An ESPN betting analyst, who had only just been hired by the company, has been fired for since deleted tweets from 2012.
Kelly Stewart posted several tweets nearly a decade ago that contained anti-gay slurs, which attributed to her termination, according to Front Office Sports.
great hire by @espn to snag someone who is somehow a worse gambler than they are a person. congrats to @kellyinvegas ! pic.twitter.com/h6PoWuAQMj
— Logan Matthews (@logan_matthews9) May 6, 2021
Following her termination, Stewart tweeted out a statement apologizing for her previous tweets and highlighting the online attacks that she has received from other social media users.
ESPN has notified me that they terminated my contract due to deleted tweets from 2012. I know the words I used are unacceptable and hurtful and I am terribly sorry for this lapse in judgment, but I cannot apologize for standing up to the vicious attacks I, and so many other female personalities, endure from anonymous online trolls.
However, she expressed disappointment in ESPN for not standing behind her in the midst of criticisms over old tweets.
I wish ESPN had been willing to stand behind me, particularly because I’d already been suspended for these Tweets by another company several years ago, but | cannot control their decision. I can only say I’m sorry for the person I was and some of the mistakes | made in my youth.
I wanted to put out a statement on today’s news so all of you could see my thoughts. pic.twitter.com/MvCsLlHhLw
— Kelly (@kellyinvegas) June 4, 2021
ESPN expects employees to uphold their social media guidelines, which state that their "engagement on social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram should be civil, responsible, and without overt political or other biases that would threaten our or your credibility with the public. Do nothing that would undercut your colleagues’ work or embroil the company in unwanted controversy.”
Stewart was set to begin her role as a betting analyst this month on ESPN’s Daily Wager podcast. She has developed a reputation as one of the sports betting industry’s top handicappers over the last 10 years. She has previously been a sports betting analyst for Bleacher Report and WagerTalk.com. She has also contributed to ESPN Radio in Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, according to ESPN.