Bill Simmons Suspended: ESPN Analyst Calls Roger Goodell ‘A Liar’
ESPN has suspended sports analyst and Grantland editor-in-chief Bill Simmons for three weeks after he unleashed a profanity-filled rant against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
According to Slate, during an episode of Simmons’ podcast The B.S. Report, Simmons and comedian Sal Iacono were discussing about how Goodell was actually hiding what he really knew about the Ray Rice incident. Simmons mentioned that he doesn’t think Goodell is being truthful with what he knows about the incident.
“I just think not enough is being made out of the fact that they knew about the tape, and they knew what was on it. Goodell, if he didn’t know what was on that tape, he’s a liar. I’m just saying it. He is lying. I think that dude is lying; if you put him up on a lie detector test, that guy would fail.”
Bill Simmons wasn’t done just yet.
“And for all these people to pretend they didn’t know is such f***ing bulls***. It really is — it’s such f***ing bulls***. And for him to go in that press conference and pretend otherwise, I was so insulted.”
After his rant, Bill Simmons then went after his employer.
“I really hope somebody calls me or emails me and says I’m in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell. Because if one person says that to me, I’m going public. You leave me alone. The commissioner’s a liar, and I get to talk about that on my podcast. Thank you. Please call me and say I’m in trouble. I dare you.”
And they did what Bill Simmons dared them to do. Not only is he suspended from doing his show, but ESPN is also forbidding him from using Twitter for three weeks. The network then released the following statement about Simmons’ suspension.
“Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN’s journalistic standards. We have worked hard to ensure that our recent NFL coverage has met that criteria. Bill Simmons did not meet those obligations in a recent podcast, and as a result we have suspended him for three weeks.”
Prior to his podcast, Simmons took to Twitter during Goodell’s press conference last week. And he didn’t have anything nice to say about the NFL commissioner.
The odds of Roger Goodell being 15 mins late to his own press conference were off the board in Vegas.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) September 19, 2014
Has not considered resigning. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. I give up. — Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) September 19, 2014
Now that Simmons has been suspended, many Twitter users shared their disagreement with the network’s decision. The hashtag, #FreeSimmons, became a trend.
“It’s not like Ray Rice bad-mouthed his wife on a PODCAST.” — someone high up at @espn, apparently. #FreeSimmons
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 25, 2014
I love @espn. @BillSimmons gets 3 weeks for the truth but @stephenasmith got 1/3 of that suggesting women sometimes ask 4 it. #FreeSimmons
— Chris Maxwell (@Seamaxwell) September 25, 2014
This is not the first time Bill Simmons has been suspended by ESPN. In 2013, The Inquisitr reported that Simmons had his Twitter account suspended for three days after tweeting that a First Take segment involving Skip Bayless and Richard Sherman was “embarassing to everyone involved.”
What do you think about the Bill Simmons suspension?
[Image via Business Insider]
