ESPN Lies About Reporting On Civil Rape Allegations

So Quickly Too

Former Dallas Cowboy and current NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin has been accused of rape by women who has filed a civil suit against the Hall of Fame receiver for an alleged July 2007 sexual assault.

But back in July (when I first posted on the 22) during Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was alleged to have raped a Nevada women, the “Leader” completely ignored the fact. ESPN went as far as issuing a ‘DO NOT REPORT’ memo to all of its outlets and reporters. ESPN went as far as saying it had previously established a company policy to not report on civil cases involving athletes.

But that policy did not stop ESPN from covering Randy Moss alleged battery against a woman in January ‘08. There were no criminal charges; Moss was slapped with a restraining order against the woman.

ESPN even reported on the intention of a woman to sue Los Angeles Lakers guard Shannon Brown over an alleged sex-related incident earlier this year. When Brown was notified that he would be sued for an alleged sex-related incident in June of ’09, ESPN.com was there with the story. And this was not a mere recycling of an Associated Press piece. This was a detailed piece on a story that was “confirmed to ESPN’s Shelley Smith on June 3, 2009.”

Eventually ESPN reported on the Roethlisberger story once the news broke that there would be no criminal investigation into the allegations.

Fast forward to February 2010 and ESPN is back on reporting on an African American athlete who is wrapped up in a civil case over in which the district attorney has made said that an announcement whether to pursue legal charges will come about sometime next week.

Ironically, Irvin has been fired effective immediately from ESPN Radio 103.3 in Dallas. According to the Dallas Morning News, ESPN planned to drop Irvin following the Super Bowl, but the sexual assault suit “expedited” the process.

An ESPN spokesman told the Dallas Morning News that Irvin’s show “was not performing and we had previously determined to end the show.”

So does the Alleged Worldwide Leader cater to white athletes?