ESPN's Robert Lee Switch Controversy

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Part of a series on 2017 Unite the Right Rally. [View Related Entries]

Overview

ESPN's Robert Lee Switch Controversy refers to the online backlash toward the sports television channel ESPN for switching sports announcer Robert Lee from a University of Virginia football game due to the similarity between his name and Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

Background

On August 22nd, 2017, ESPN released a statement announcing that the company had moved Robert Lee from announcing a University of Virginia football game "simply because of the coincidence of his name" following the violent Unite the Right rally held earlier that month.^[9]

Developments

Online Reaction

On August 23rd, 2017, Redditor BBQCopter submitted a post about the controversy to /r/KotakuInAction.^[5] That day, the hashtag #RobertLee began trending on Twitter, while posts erroneously claiming Lee had been "fired" for his name began appearing on Facebook.^[7] That day, Snopes^[8] published an article refuting the social media posts.

ESPN's Response

On August 22nd, 2017, USA Today^[3] published an article which included a statement from an anonymous ESPN executive, who claimed Lee chose to switch assignments after being given the option by ESPN. The following day, CNN correspondent Brian Stelter tweeted an internal memo written by ESPN President John Skipper regarding the decision to switch Robert Lee (shown below).^[6]

News Media Coverage

On August 23rd, the libertarian news site Reason^[4] published an article titled "ESPN's Robert Lee Decision Should Be Wake-Up Call About the Perpetual Outrage Machines."