Corporations are afraid of being made of. The larger the corporation, the more afraid of being made fun of they are, and corporations don’t get much larger than Disney. In a bid to avoid having internet memes made at their expense, ESPN moved an Asian-American college football announcer named Robert Lee from the upcoming William and Mary at UVA game and will be sending him instead to Pittsburgh on opening weekend. The move was made because Lee’s name is similar to that of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and Virginia was recently the site of a terrorist attack by a white supremacist.
While initial reports of this story were thought to be false, ESPN made the following statement confirming the reports:
“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue.”
According to USA Today, ESPN made the move to avoid “potential ridicule or embarrassment.” Now to take a big drink of water and check Twitter to see how that turned out.
Aaaaaand filling in for the ESPN announcer Robert Lee: Joey Hitler
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) August 23, 2017
The ackward moment @espn broke it to announcer/General Robert E. Lee that he was pulled from the UVA game. #RobertLee pic.twitter.com/A5QlHz9FLW
— The Moderate Man (@TheModerateMan) August 23, 2017
#RobertLee General Robert Lee heading out to announce the Union vs Rebel Football Game: pic.twitter.com/RxzKjhBD8f
— Scared Goat (@ScaredGoat) August 23, 2017
So, well done ESPN. Just imagine the potential ribbing you would have gotten if a guy named Robert Lee called a football game in Virginia. Thank god you avoided that embarrassment, right?