ESPN reportedly tried to defame former host Will Kane by playing a misleading clip during ESPY on Wednesday.
ESPN aired a montage video to celebrate the US women’s national soccer team securing pay parity with the men’s team. The montage included a clip of former First Take host Will Kane criticizing the team’s allegations of wage discrimination. (Related article: Google celebrates ‘Equal Pay Day’ with message on gender pay gap)
“I think equal pay is a silly concept in and of itself. Football is, for better or worse, much more popular with boys than girls around the world,” Kane said in the video.
ESPN just polluted @Wilkyne As an ESPY sexist.
When airing a video praising the US women’s soccer team’s equal pay lawsuit, she included out-of-context remarks from an ESPN corner she gave four years ago.
They did not publish the full text of his remarks. because he… pic.twitter.com/1U2XvagJQW
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 13, 2023
This clip was selectively edited to exclude the substance of Kane’s argument. In a full segment, Kane pointed out that the pay gap stems from the difference in the bonuses FIFA assigns to participants in the men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments. Kane claimed that women received 20% of World Cup earnings, while men received 7%.
“The women were paid out of a $30 million pool from the Women’s World Cup. The men will be drawing from a $400 million pool,” Kane said.
“Why? Because the men’s World Cup will generate $6 billion in revenue. The women’s World Cup will generate $131 million in revenue,” Cain added.
The misleading editing of Cain’s words was denounced online.
“They didn’t include the full text of his remarks because he completely destroyed their entire argument,” said Politics. commentator Greg Price tweeted.
“ESPN not only took Will Kane’s remarks out of context on their own airwaves, they literally cut out passages in the middle of his remarks,” said New York Post sportswriter Ryan Glasspiegel. tweeted.
“It’s a disgrace to ESPN. This is utterly despicable and will embarrass everyone involved,” said Outkick. Writer Former Daily Caller writer David Fuchstead wrote:
Kane further emphasized his comments.
“It’s still true. Unpopular as ever. Full context. Full truth.” Cain tweeted.
