ESPN will suspend First Take host and contributor Rob Parker for 30 days for his racially charged remarks about Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III. Marcia Keegan, ESPN's vice president of production, announced the move on Thursday, a week after Parker's comments.
ESPN suspends Rob Parker for 30 days over RGIII remarks
The network also vowed more oversight for First Take and admitted an error on its part.
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Keegan’s statement reads:
”ESPN has decided to suspend Rob Parker for 30 days for his comments made on last Thursday’s episode of First Take. Our review of the preparation for the show and the re-air has established that mistakes both in judgment and communication were made. As a direct result, clearly inappropriate content was aired and then re-aired without editing. Both were errors on our part.
“To address this, we have enhanced the editorial oversight of the show and have taken appropriate disciplinary measures with the personnel responsible for these failures. We will continue to discuss important issues in sports on First Take, including race. Debate is an integral part of sports and we will continue to engage in it on First Take. However, we believe what we have learned here and the steps we have taken will help us do all that better.”
ESPN re-aired the episode of First Take with Parker’s comments later in the day, hours after his words stirred up a public outcry.
On a Thursday, Dec. 13, edition of ESPN’s roundtable show, Parker called RGIII a “cornball brother” and said “he’s not one of us.” Video of Parker’s remarks and a transcript is available here.
Parker issued an apology on Wednesday.
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