An ESPN broadcaster said this week that he “doesn’t give a s***” about getting backlash for criticizing transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Kirk Herbstreit made the remarks on Outkick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.” This came after he wrote on X that he does not believe that men belong in women’s sports.
On the podcast, Herbstreit claimed that he’d been “biting my tongue on a lot of topics for three years.” He was told not to discuss not to talk publicly about race, religion, or politics.
“I’ve tried to just…I try to stay on the sidelines for a lot of that…but, you know, you can only take so much until you want to start to speak up a little bit and start to say what you think,” Herbstreit said.
“When I retire…I’ll be able to say what I think a lot more,” he added.
Dakich pointed out, “You had to know when you put that tweet out, there was going to be a reaction.”
“I didn’t give a s*** though,” Herbstreit responded. “I don’t really give a s*** at all.”
“I’m done giving any s***s at all about any of it when it comes to…it’s almost like there’s two different sets of rules and if you have a view that’s a little bit more traditional, or I’m a Christian guy, it’s like there’s a different set of rules for that viewpoint. It’s hard to just turn the other cheek time after time after time,” he said.
“I don’t care at all,” he reiterated, adding he’s not worried about being “canceled” or making people upset.
“If that fuse gets lit, I let it go.”
Kirk Herbstreit Doubles Down On Opinion That Men Should Stay Out Of Women's Sports: ‘I Don't Give A Shit’ https://t.co/e4K2hu80iV pic.twitter.com/sEUbw3838u
— OutKick (@Outkick) August 14, 2024
Women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines applauded Herbstreit’s stance.
“Good for him,” she wrote on X.
Good for him 👏🏼 https://t.co/xyDsmKP5dZ
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) August 14, 2024
Earlier this year, former ESPN anchor Sage Steele revealed that her former employer demanded she stop speaking about Will “Lia” Thomas, the male swimmer who identifies as “transgender” and competed against women at the University of Pennsylvania. Thomas won races and robbed women of opportunities.
“I was asked to stop tweeting about it. I was asked to stop doing anything, saying anything about it on social media because I was offending others at the company. I made sure I sent up another tweet that night after I received that email because like, no,” Steele said on Outkick’s “Gaines for Girls” podcast, which Townhall covered.
“I’m going to stand up for all these women, many of whom are afraid,” she continued. “I already had the lawsuit going. I didn’t know how it was going to end. But I literally said, this is the hill I will die on 100 percent because it’s facts. This is not even my opinion about a vaccine mandate or whatever, these are facts. This is science, this is biology. This is all of the things. Come at me. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me to stop supporting women. Go ahead, tell me.”