Bomani Jones Complains ESPN Didn't Give Him Another Full-Time TV Show After His Failed

ESPN canceled Bomani Jones' television show, High Noon, in 2020 after setting then-record lows at both 12 pm and 4 pm.

The network re-signed Jones following the cancelation. One could define his fortune as a privilege. After all, ESPN continued to pay him as if he did not just tank its daily television lineup.

Yet according to Bomani, his luck made him the victim.

Jones recently appeared on a friendly, agent-influenced outlet to complain that ESPN didn't give him another television show immediately following the cancelation of his. He said he deserved to return as full-time co-host of Highly Questionable with Dan Le Batard.

Specifically, he took issue with ESPN instead inserting him into a rotation with other network personalities, several of whom rated better on HQ than he did.

Here's Bomani declaring himself a victim of the network that employs him:

He certainly has an ego for a guy who set record lows on ESPN television, ESPN Radio and now HBO

I saved the show!

I deserved to be a full-time co-host!

He also added quite the spin on his career.

Bomani Jones didn't "save" anything. Former ESPN president John Skipper handpicked Jones along with Jemele Hill, Michael Smith, and Dan Le Batard to be the future faces of the network. Skipper catapulted them each into the daily lineup.

Jones's original push included a daily seat on Highly Questionable as the third wheel behind Le Batard and his father. Skipper, with a well-documented personal relationship with Le Batard, then moved the show from ESPN2 to ESPN.

And once Jones moved to host his own show, High Noon, he failed miserably. He lost over 70 percent of Stephen A. Smith's audience at noon and tanked the afternoon block after a demotion to 4 pm.

What's more, HQ continued to succeed post-Bomani. The success of the program was tied to Le Batard; not Jones.

So for Jones to go on a podcast and claim ESPN owed him a place back on the show is ignorant. It shows no self-awareness.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 04: Bomani Jones onstage during "Colin In Black And White", Netflix, And Dreamville Present Path To Power Summit at Clark Atlanta University on November 04, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Netflix )

Also, notice how the interviewer failed to challenge Jones on why he deserved the full-time gig over other personalities in the rotation.

While Katie Nolan, Mina Kimes, Katie Nolan, Israel Gutierrez, and Domonique Foxworth hardly scream success story -- they were not the ones coming off a record-setting disaster. 

That was Bomani Jones.

Jones' claim to victimhood ought to serve as a warning to HBO. HBO will not cancel the Jones-hosted Race Theory this season. Racial tensions are too high. Canceling a show that focuses on calling white people racist would cause a backlash that HBO is not equipped to withstand.

But one day, HBO will summon the courage to can a show losing an unprecedented 80 percent of Bill Maher's audience. (Note: Jones lost 80 percent of John Oliver's in season 1.)

At that point, Bomani Jones may re-emerge and scold HBO for not immediately casting him on a more successful show where he can play sidekick.