Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE
How quickly things turn around. As we reported yesterday, tennis icon Venus Williams was subjected to utterly disrespectful commentary during the Australian Open by ESPN announcer Doug Adler. Well today ESPN has decided what his punishment should be and let’s just say you won’t have to hear him on-air for the foreseeable future.
Venus Williams And Sallie Krawcheck Sit Down With LinkedIn Executive Editor Dan Roth

Source: Gary Gershoff / Getty

Social media was in an uproar yesterday when footage of ESPN announcer Doug Adler, referring to Venus Williams’ tennis stance as that of a “gorilla,” made the rounds online. Now, The Root is reporting that ESPN has decided to officially remove Adler from commentating the remainder of the Australian Open as well as his remaining assignments.
ESPN released an official statement regarding the incident and Adler’s remarks:

“During an Australian Open stream on ESPN3, Doug Adler should have been more careful in his word selection. He apologized and we have removed him from his remaining assignments.”
 
For his part, Adler claims that he did not intend to refer to Venus as a “gorilla,” but instead meant the “guerilla” style. Um, ok. Hopefully next time he will think before he speaks when describing one of the world’s greatest athletes.
Check out today’s Top Stories here:

The grand return of the Melanin Awards amplifies and honors the finest Black-owned beauty brands with honest reviews, and discusses the evolution of beauty in Hip-Hop culture.