Yankees Great Paul O’Neill Dropped From WFAN Interview Over Refusal To Talk Josh Donaldson Drama

Former New York Yankee Paul O'Neill wasn't in the mood to discuss the racist accusations directed at his former team and third baseman Josh Donaldson.

So O'Neill was dropped from a WFAN appearance on Monday over his unwillingness to hit the touchy subject.

Donaldson and Tim Anderson's conflict became the prominent story in baseball, which gave the Tierney and Tiki podcast plenty of material for Monday's scheduled interview with the retired Yankee and five-time World Series champ.

However, the former Yankee delivered his conditions for the interview, stating that he would stay mum on the subject. In response, Brandon Tierney nixed the interview.

Tierney announced the abrupt cancelation amid the episode. He confessed to respecting the Yankees great but refusing to interview with a sizable elephant in the room.

"He has a new book coming out, called, 'Swing and a Hit.' And Jack Curry wrote it, along with Paul. We were told, and Tiki, you don't even know this because I was going through this while you were finishing up your thought on the air. We were told we can not ask anything about Donaldson and Anderson."

Tierney added, "'We can't do the interview if that is the case.' I said, 'Please tell Paul, we will navigate this responsibly. We will not belabor it. But I can't have Paul O'Neill on the show after we spent an hour and 35 minutes talking about Tim Anderson and Josh Donaldson and not ask him about what transpired. That sucks. No disrespect to Paul. I love him. Truly, my second all-time favorite Yankee. We have a responsibility to the show."

After Saturday's contest between the Yankees and White Sox, Chicago's Tim Anderson alleged that Donaldson called him "Jackie" (referring to Jackie Robinson) during the game with racist intent.

White Sox manager Tony La Russa first called the player's name-calling racist, but Donaldson's context revealed that he was quoting Anderson's 2019 interview with Sports illustrated.

Anderson declared himself the modern Jackie Robinson.

As a result of the accusation, Donaldson was fined and suspended by the MLB on Monday.

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