ESPN’s Bias And Hypocrisy On Full Display In Treatment Of Paul Finebaum And Stephen A Smith

When Stephen A. Smith announced earlier this year that he was considering running for President of the United States as a Democrat, the network rewarded him with a five-year, $100 million contract. His new deal includes a clause allowing Smith to appear on news programs to discuss his political ambitions.

Yet when his colleague Paul Finebaum expressed interest in running as a Republican for Senate in Alabama, the network canceled all his scheduled appearances on the channel.

On Monday, multiple sources told OutKick that ESPN removed Finebaum from its main channel after he told Clay Travis last week that he voted for Donald Trump and is interested in the Alabama Senate race.

"Per sources: Disney/ESPN has removed @finebaum from appearing on @ESPN since his @outkick interview expressing interest in running as a Republican for Senate in Alabama. ESPN has canceled all network appearances on all shows, including some that have occurred for a decade plus," Travis posted on X.

ESPN public relations representative Bill Hofheimer responded by calling Travis’ report "TOTALLY FALSE." However, Hofheimer refused to cite any of Finebaum’s national appearances since his interview last week. Note: there were none.

"Please cite all @finebaum @espn appearances since Wednesday of last week, Bill. (Hint: there haven’t been any.) During one of the biggest college football weeks of the year. They’ve all been scheduled and then canceled," Travis tweeted at Hofheimer.

Specifically, Finebaum did not appear on the Sunday morning edition of SportsCenter this week for his usual segment. He was also absent from his weekly appearances on Get Up and First Take days earlier, despite coming off one of the biggest weekends in college football this year. Finebaum has continued to appear on the SEC Network, which hosts his radio simulcast and SEC Nation.

Why the double standard between Stephen A. and Finebaum? The answer is obvious. Smith mentioned running as a Democrat, while Finebaum expressed interest in running as a Republican.

Political double standards are nothing new at ESPN. The network suspended Sage Steele for violating its so-called "ban on politics" policy and publicly condemned her comments. Yet ESPN issued no discipline to Mina Kimes for endorsing Democrats, to Elle Duncan for praising Michelle Obama on-air, to David Dennis Jr. for calling Trump a racist, or to Malika Andrews for protesting state abortion laws.

Similarly, ESPN ordered anchor Ashley Brewer to delete a social media photo she took with a Republican congressman at a UFC event. Yet ESPN continues to allow Mark Jones to leave a photo of himself with Barack Obama
pinned to his X account. OutKick asked the network about this discrepancy a month ago. There was no response.

Speaking of Mark Jones, ESPN renewed his contract after he made the following posts on social media:

• Baseless accusations that stadium police officers were going to shoot him dead because he is black.
• Tweets telling Rush Limbaugh to "rot in hell" the day his wife announced he had died of lung cancer.
• False claims that police murdered Jacob Blake, who is still alive.
• Posts calling Stephen A. Smith a "coon."
• Posts calling his white colleagues and bosses "blind to racism in front of him."
• Tweets celebrating Nick Bosa tearing his ACL as "payback for standing for the national anthem" and supporting Donald Trump.
• Claims that the Batman character is rooted in racism.
• A photo stating, "MAGA women are skanks."
• Claims that Gov. Ron DeSantis is a "member of the KKK." (He’s not.)
• Claims that Aaron Rodgers is a member of QAnon. (He’s not.)
• Statements that white people "appropriated" Jesus.
• Debunked claims that police shot Breonna Taylor because of her skin color. (They never saw her.)
• A tweet from Bishop Talbert Swan calling white people "demonic forces of evil."
• A tweet comparing Jason Whitlock to a house slave from the film Django Unchained.
• Tweets calling Queen Elizabeth a "racist" on the day she died.

We get it: you want Black Twitter to like you.

The list goes on.

Former ESPN host Sam Ponder said last month that management confronted her via email after she liked a tweet from Megyn Kelly stating that men don’t need gynecologists. Yet ESPN took no action when ACC Network host Taylor Tannebaum liked posts saying "f*** ICE" and "f*** the Trump administration."

As OutKick has long argued, either every employee should be free to discuss politics, or no one should. Likewise, either every employee should be able to express political aspirations, or no one can.

Unfortunately, at ESPN, the rules vary based on political affiliation (and skin color). As a white Jewish man who voted for Trump, Paul Finebaum never stood a chance.

Of course, ESPN will likely lift its ban and put Finebaum back on television to create the illusion of fairness. But that would only be a temporary move meant to spite OutKick and its critics.

Finebaum’s days are likely numbered, just as they were for Sage Steele, Ashley Brewer, and Sam Ponder after they voiced semi-conservative views.

Finebaum will be fine. He doesn’t need ESPN. As Sen. Tommy Tuberville said, he’d be a force in Alabama politics with near-universal name recognition in the state of Alabama. Finebaum also commands a loyal audience that would follow him to an independent platform or another network.

The bigger story is the message ESPN sends to every other employee, confirming that their political beliefs (and skin color) will determine how they are treated. That’s wrong, unjustifiable, and – as Steele’s lawsuit proved – often actionable.

Admittedly, we understand why ESPN didn’t appreciate Paul Finebaum’s appearance on OutKick to discuss his interest in running for Senate. But considering the exceptions ESPN has made for so many of his colleagues, it has no credible defense for punishing him. That is especially true as Stephen A. continues to appear on ESPN, stating that he has "no choice" but to consider entering the Democratic primary in 2028.

"I have no choice [to consider running", because I’ve had elected officials coming up to me. I’ve had folks who are pundits come up to me. I’ve had folks that got a lot of money, billionaires and others, that have talked to me about exploratory committees and things of that nature [about running]," Smith recently told ABC News.

Anyway, as ESPN recently announced, catch Stephen A. Smith on Monday Night Football in the coming weeks.