SI's Attempt To Use Christine Blasey Ford To Promote Award Backfires Brutally
Every time Sports Illustrated tries to step into the sociopolitical realm, it tends to backfire in amazing fashion.
Remember when SI tried to go all-out in its unabashed support for Colin Kaepernick? That was embarrassing.
Or when it tried to mindlessly attack Tim Tebow? That was even more embarrassing, and a little pathetic to boot.
This time around, SI has decided to turn its “Inspiration of the Year” award into a searing sociopolitical take on sexual assault in 2018.
To be clear, sexual assault cannot possibly be condemned harshly enough. That’s not the issue with Sports Illustrated’s award.
In fact, SI’s choice for “Inspiration of the Year” is wholly commendable.
Rachael Denhollander was one of the first U.S. gymnasts who had the gumption to speak out against the heinous atrocities committed by the despicable and disgraced former team doctor, Larry Nassar.
But, as previously mentioned, Denhollander’s award isn’t the issue at all. She more than deserves it. It could not have been easy to be one of the first to speak out against the monstrous Nassar.
What should have been easy, however, is for SI to have simply given Denhollander the award and let her reap the accolades. Instead, it foisted another woman to the split the spotlight with Denhollander.
Christine Blasey Ford, who spoke out with unsubstantiated claims of sexual assault against Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, was selected to “present” the award to Denhollander.
Right off the bat, several more deserving candidates come to mind.
As SI itself notes, more than 300 women came forward following Denhollander’s initial accusations with similar allegations against Nassar. Any number of those 300 women immediately sound like a better candidate than Blasey Ford.
This is not to attack Blasey Ford per se. Women should always feel empowered to speak out against sexual assailants. The problem is SI’s blatant pandering to score cheap political points with the far left.
A cheap pandering, it should be worth noting, that was not lost on the public. Social media backlash was fierce against SI.
I get one for free. I need to figure how to make that stop coming now lol
— Tina (@TinaBaarspul) December 13, 2018
Why can’t sports just be kept out of the political circle?
— Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance (@USA1776_2A) December 13, 2018
Whether you meant to or not, you’ve made this more about Dr. Ford than about the recipient of the award. Bad optics!
— AngieJ?? (@ajamison5678) December 13, 2018
Political crap in #SportsIllistrated is why I cancelled my subscription years ago.
— ? The PissedOffTreeRat ?? (@PissedTree) December 13, 2018
The aforementioned tweets are just the tip of the iceberg of SI’s latest embarrassing blunder. The backlash was even more pronounced in the tweets that were not fit to be published here.
Leave it to Sports Illustrated to take a genuinely easy pitch of celebrating a woman who spoke out against Nassar and strike out so hard.
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