ESPN Contributor Who Smeared Hulk Hogan Ignored Rape Allegations, Homophobic Slur in Kobe's Obit

Not even two hours after Hulk Hogan's death, ESPN contributor David Dennis Jr. posted an article denouncing the wrestling icon as a racist.  Dennis argued that Hogan should only be remembered as a racist, and thus, nothing that he accomplished in the ring or in American culture mattered.  
 

"When you are a racist that is your legacy above all else," Dennis wrote. "Hulk Hogan died being known a racist who also became famous as a professional wrestler," he concluded.

For background, Hogan used the N-word in a phone conversation with a friend 18 years ago. The phone call was recorded without his knowledge and leaked to the press 10 years ago. Hogan has since apologized and lost several sponsorship deals. Yet, according to an ESPN writer, that one moment undermines his entire career.

Covering death is complicated. Any public figure who has been in the spotlight for as long as Hogan—over 40 years—inevitably carries a mix of achievements and controversies. But is it necessary to focus on their lowlights immediately after their passing? We’d argue that, unless the person was a violent criminal who harmed other people, the answer is no.

Either way, what's important, as a journalist, is consistency. And that's where David Dennis Jr. failed.

Dennis could hardly wait to scrutinize Hogan after learning he had passed away from cardiac arrest. However, as an OutKick reader notified us, he didn't apply the same standard to Kobe Bryant after his death.

In 2020, a day after Bryant's death, Dennis penned an article titled "Remembering Kobe Bryant, a Man Who Never Trusted in Tomorrow." In the piece, Dennis eulogized Bryant for his role on the court, in the community, and as a father.

"He showed us a fatherly love that was beautiful to watch unfold. It’s fitting that of all the memes and internet that Kobe birthed — from counting to five, to him glancing over at the crowd, to two men willing to meet in Temecula to fight over him — the last and most viral of them is Kobe explaining basketball to Gigi," Dennis wrote. "They’re courtside at a game and he’s breaking down some basketball mechanics. She’s nodding, absorbing the information, and then she finishes his sentence. Kobe takes a half-beat, smiles, and nods. She gets it. Pride bursts from his eyes."

Yet, as you finish the article, you'll notice an omission: any mention of rape allegations. 

In 2003, a 19-year-old woman accused Bryant of raping her at Cordillera Lodge and Spa in Edwards, Colo. While the case was dropped after the accuser was unwilling to testify, the evidence against Bryant was damning.

"Prosecutors seemed to have a strong case," a New York Times article from 2020 stated. "According to court documents, an examination of the woman at a hospital revealed a bruise on her neck and tears in her vaginal wall. Both her underwear and Bryant’s shirt were bloody. Bryant told the police he had not explicitly asked for consent."

We understand Dennis has an agenda. Hogan was white and conservative and Bryant was black and liberal. To someone like Dennis, that's all that matters. However, to hold someone more accountable for jokingly using a racial slur than someone credibly accused of rape is indefensible.

Still, OutKick contacted Dennis to allow him a chance to defend his disparate reactions to Hogan and Bryant's deaths over the weekend. Of course, he didn't respond.

We would say Dennis, like many individuals in the media, takes word crimes more seriously than violent crimes. Then again, Bryant, by Dennis' standards, is also guilty of committing a word crime. In 2011, the NBA fined Bryant $100,000 for calling a referee a "faggot" on the court. For the record, Dennis didn't mention that incident in Bryant's obituary either.

So, we clearly aren't dealing with an honest broker here. David Dennis Jr. is a hack. He's a race-grifter. He danced on Hogan's grave minutes after his death because he saw an opportunity to smear an icon who was white. He praised Bryant because he knew it'd score him points with the black community.

ESPN deserves blame for Dennis' hypocritical and often racially charged commentary. Not only is Dennis a columnist on ESPN's vertical, Andscape, but the network has recently featured him on its top television programs: "SportsCenter," "First Take," and "NBA Today."

For a network that has tried to distance itself from toxic programming, promoting Dennis on television is egregious. In fact, ESPN only hired Dennis because his father was a civil rights activist and the network wanted the PR after George Floyd's death in 2020.

In addition to his articles on Hogan and Bryant, Dennis recently claimed he was "mortified" by Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle ad, encouraged Caitlin Clark fans to stop watching the WNBA, broke ESPN's political policy by fawning over Michelle Obama, and argued that white people have a "moral obligation" to defend all black people

He's a buffoon. And the ESPN executives – Jimmy Pitaro, Burke Magnus, Dave Roberts – deserve criticism for allowing him to make a mockery of the ESPN brand.

Just wait until R. Kelly passes and Dennis praises him for his contributions to R&B, without mention of his conviction for sexual abuse against children.