ESPN responds to Dana White’s insult of Ariel Helwani over Gina Carano remarks
ESPN issued a statement backing its reporter, Ariel Helwani after UFC President Dana White took a verbal jab at the journalist during the UFC 258 media availability on Friday, Feb. 12.
White was asked about former Strikeforce champion and now-actress Gina Carano, who was recently fired by Disney over social media posts which were widely viewed as being anti-Semitic. Although the UFC’s broadcast partner is the Disney owned ESPN, White responded by calling out Helwani, who is of jewish-heritage.
“Leave Gina alone,” White said. “Listen, we make mistakes. We all make mistakes. For everybody to go in on her – I love how Ariel Helwani made it all about him. It was all about him. Such a douche.”
Dana White, regarding Gina Carano, says leave @ginacarano alone & calls Ariel Helwani a Douche #UFC258 pic.twitter.com/CZPcZk0nY0
— Helen Yee (@HelenYeeSports) February 12, 2021
On Monday, Feb. 15, ESPN supported its colleague.
“Ariel is a valued colleague and an exceptional MMA reporter. His record speaks for itself,” ESPN said to the New York Post.
The moment White is referring to is when Helwani posted his response to Carano’s actions on social media.
“As a Jewish person, and as a human being, it just doesn’t sit well,” Helwani’s post said in part. “And I wish she would have never posted that. And quite frankly I wish someone would have talked to her about her social media posts over the past year. Some of them not even political. Just in general, they felt off to me. I am sorry she has gone down this path.”
View this post on Instagram
This is not the first time White has feuded with Helwani. One of the biggest spats between the two came in June 2016, White was disappointed when Helwani reported on Brock Lesnar’s plans to return to the octagon before the promotion could broadcast the news on its own at UFC 199.
White and the UFC reacted by banning Helwani from covering the event and removed his credentials for any future events. The promotion also took credentials away from his crew members, including photographers E. Casey Leydon and Esther Lin.
After the UFC received backlash from the public, all three media members were rewarded their credentials. Many of Helwani’s co-workers at ESPN are supporting him via Twitter, including Kevin Negandhi and Dan LeBatard.
