ESPN Pulls Asian Announcer Robert Lee From Virginia Football Game Due To His Name

August 24, 2017

Social justice warriors at ESPN pulled Asian-American announcer Robert Lee from calling a University of Virginia football game late last week because he shares the same name as the Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

From Fox News:

Lee, an Asian-American sportscaster who started with the network in 2016, was moved to a different game “simply because of the coincidence of his name,” ESPN said, referencing the Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

ESPN pulls announcer from calling a University of Virginia football game because of his name #RobertLee pic.twitter.com/V3K6SWo62C

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— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 23, 2017

…ESPN, which has faced accusations of liberal bias that some observers believe has led to a downtick in viewership, said it moved its announcer to the Youngstown State game at Pittsburgh.

The network’s full statement: “We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue.”

According to the New York Times, ESPN took him off the game “for his safety.”

…ESPN executives and Mr. Lee decided that for his safety it would be best to have him to work on a different game that Saturday, a network spokesman said.

Twitter had a field day over the move:

From 1862 until his surrender in 1865, ESPN college football announcer Robert Lee commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. pic.twitter.com/eQKXyXRNgl

— NotKennyRogers (@NotKennyRogers) August 23, 2017