'The Athletic' Subscribers Are FUMING After Reporter's Unhinged Questions At Australian Open
The customer is always right.
On Thursday, OutKick's very own Mark Harris published an article regarding a reporter by the name of Owen Lewis at the Australian Open and his anti-American, anti-Trump line of questioning towards American players.
Lewis has filed multiple consecutive bylines for The Athletic, and while we haven't received confirmation from either Lewis or The Athletic about his affiliation with the outlet for this particular assignment in Melbourne, subscribers to the sports media company made sure their frustration with the line of woke questioning was heard loud and clear across social media.
READ: Ben Shelton Blasts Australian Open Media For Being Disrespectful, Specifically Towards American Players
Several users on X have announced their intentions to cancel their subscriptions to The Athletic, citing Lewis' politically loaded questions as their reasoning.
While some felt that canceling their subscription to The Athletic was enough to get the message across, others took things a step further, imploring the company to fire Lewis for being a "disgrace" to both the sport of tennis and the country as a whole.
It's safe to say the cat is out of the bag now for both Lewis and The Athletic, and whether that was Lewis' intention remains to be seen.
Lewis is not on X, predictably opting to take his "talents" to BlueSky, so there is a chance a lot of this criticism falls on deaf ears for him.
The Athletic, however, is definitely feeling the heat early this morning, and the noise may get loud enough to where it will have to either address it publicly or in house (probably both). OutKick has reached out, and so far The Athletic is unresponsive.
As of right now, not even an official statement has been issued by The Athletic regarding Lewis' line of questioning at the Australian Open.
Lewis has not surfaced in any other press conferences for American players since his viral moments we reported on yesterday, though he had an opportunity to ask Tommy Paul following his 6-1, 6-1 walkover of Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina late Thursday night.
OutKick will continue to update this story pending comments from Lewis and/or The Athletic.