Tony Kornheiser is the fashion police

[Immortalfire]

..but he is not above the law, it seems.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/espn-suspends-kornheiser-for-323882.html?cxntlid=thbz_hm

BRISTOL, Conn. — ESPN has suspended host Tony Kornheiser from his television talk show "Pardon the Interruption" for comments he made on the radio last week about SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm's clothing.

Kornheiser announced the suspension on his Washington D.C. radio show Tuesday morning, calling his remarks about Storm intemperate and stupid.

"As the result of this, I have been sent to the sidelines of PTI for a while," Kornheiser said.

ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz, while confirming the suspension, declined to say when Kornheiser would be back on the show. He said the network would likely have a statement later Tuesday.

Kornheiser described an outfit Storm was wearing at ESPN last week as "horrifying," saying her shirt was too tight and looked "like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body."

Kornheiser said he had called Storm to personally apologize for the remarks.

"If you put a live microphone in front of somebody, eventually that person will say something wrong," Kornheiser said on his show Tuesday. "This was one of the times I said something wrong."

ESPN has been troubled by a series of workplace issues involving alleged misconduct by its television personalities, though they have involved behavior off the air.

 

[Raiden]

Well, it was just a matter of time before Kornheiser said something that will land him in hot water, and this was a long time coming.

 

[Addendum]

So what was wrong with what he said?

 

[kane9321]

i dont think he said anything that bad.

 

[Shifty]

I can imagine the phone call to apologize would be something straight out of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
ESPN just looks bad and draws more attention to Tony's comments.

 

[Wylie Times]

I gotta call BS on this one. He didn't say anything that bad and he's said worse things about males. I don't think he should have been suspended over that.

 

[Immortalfire]

What probably happened, is the ESPN overlords have been watching Lifetime...where all men are scum, and all women are oppressed. So they were inspired to come to Hannah's rescue from scummy Tony.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Nah, the problem is that ESPN has been having problems with the image of they're males-female relationship problems in the workplace.

They've got problems battling the rumors that they're filled with overly misogynistic ****-for-brain guys who'll stick they're penis in anything with two legs, even if they're married.

I think with Steve Phillips thing, they've gotta drop the hammer on anyone who further pushes the notion that they're all like that at ESPN.

For what it's worth, I think it was the "packed sausages" that did him in.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Where can I find this outfit?

 

[Mister J]

I believe it also has something to do with ESPN's goofy rule that its employees aren't allowed to bash/overly criticize each other (or affiliates, for that matter). The noted issues they've had with harassment and inappropriate conduct regarding females obviously looms as well. Depending on who you hear it from, ESPN is just a big boys locker room.

All in all, the suspension is still ridiculous. Knowing Kornheiser, comedy was a larger aim than any malicious intent and what he said isn't that bad anyway. Kneejerk PC reaction.

For reference, what he said, in full, is below, as well as a picture of what Storm was wearing.

"Hannah Storm in a horrifying, horrifying outfit today. She's got on red go-go boots and a catholic school plaid skirt ... way too short for somebody in her 40s or maybe early 50s by now." [She's 47.] "She's got on her typically very, very tight shirt. She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body ... I know she's very good, and I'm not supposed to be critical of ESPN people, so I won't ... but Hannah Storm ... come on now! Stop! What are you doing? ... She's what I would call a Holden Caulfield fantasy at this point."

 

[Cmill216]

Jesus, that quote is amazing.

 

[Raiden]

2 weeks is a bit too long for this suspension, but I do think ESPN had to suspend Kornheiser for his comments, otherwise they'd be perceived as allowing this kind of workplace behavior toward female employees in their company (ie commenting on a female employee's workrobe and compared her to a packed sausage).

 

[Holiday]

2 weeks? F***ing ridiculous.

 

[Raiden]

Whitlock supports Kornheiser

 

[Trainwreck2100]

can they find someone besides lebratard

 

[bgates87]

I don't really like Tony Kornheiser but 2 weeks is ridiculous.

 

[BestGirl]

I can't imagine why Kornheiser would think it a good idea to riff publicly on one of his coworker's clothes. What's it matter to him?

Whitlock supports Kornheiser

"The Caulfield analogy basically implies that the 47-year-old Storm went on air looking like a cross between a hooker and a stripper.

Why did she? Only Storm knows for sure, but I’ll speculate.

A. She’s still outraged about learning she’s the lone, moderately attractive white woman in North America not propositioned by Tiger Woods."

Looks like Whitlock's cruising for a suspension too.

 

[StorminNorman]

I think it's a bit of a stretch to call Storm a "coworker". Tony is based out of Washington, seems to never go to Bristol (or LA - they moved SportsCenter to LA right?) and never sees any ESPN people in his day to day life (outside of those based in the isolated Washington studio).

So this wasn't him riffing on a woman he is going to see everyday at work. This was him riffing on a woman that happens to be on the same network, for what he thought was an outrageous outfit.

 

[Dr. Evil]

can they find someone besides lebratard

Bob Ryan fills in sometimes.

 

[signalman]

Hannah Storm is a Total MILF.

 

[BlackLantern]

Nah, the problem is that ESPN has been having problems with the image of they're males-female relationship problems in the workplace.

They've got problems battling the rumors that they're filled with overly misogynistic ****-for-brain guys who'll stick they're penis in anything with two legs, even if they're married.

I think with Steve Phillips thing, they've gotta drop the hammer on anyone who further pushes the notion that they're all like that at ESPN.

For what it's worth, I think it was the "packed sausages" that did him in.

I concur...I have a friend who works in IT in Bristol and things have been pretty tense since the Steve Phillips incident...lots of memos out around "professional conduct" and all that

 

[Go Web Go!]

Why is ESPN killing the goose that lays the golden egg?

 

[BlackLantern]

what goose?? Kornheiser is a clown

 

[Go Web Go!]

Ok, and you're not alone, but PTI is the highest rated show on ESPN. Whether they like TK or hate him, people are tuning in...so, yeah, that goose.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Whitlock is an idiot. Nothing that man says ever sounds anything more than ill conceived. He practically t-bagged Steve McNair after his death for being a "bad father" (how he came to that conclusion, i don't know).

I like Kornheiser...I think he's a funny idiot, which he plays off of. The "wrapped susages" joke is what did him in, and pointing out her age was probably a bit ****ed up. Well, the joke is ****ed up...but I thought that was the point of his little rant.

Nobody's going to care given enough time. I remember ESPN had one Boston columist who made worse comments about Jason Kidd's wife...and that blew over eventually. As long as you don't stick your penis in something, ESPN will probably let it slide.