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After 23 years on the air, ESPN’s Around the Horn is set to air its final episode on Friday. Network executives didn’t explain why the show is leaving the airwaves, but longtime host Tony Reali is hitting back after former panelist Jay Mariotti claimed that the show had become “too woke.”
“Our show was about sports. Honestly, we did delve into politics. But you were never going to get me on ripping the president, or praising the president. We’re not going that far,” Mariotti told Front Office Sports. “I started to watch the show and I would see people down and out anti-Trump. I’m not going to tell you whether I’m a Trump guy or not. That’s really irrelevant. I did not want to watch a sports show and see it delve into that. And I think it started at the top from management, at the time, that they wanted this to be the tone of the show.”
Mariotti was a regular panelist on the show beginning in 2002 up until his arrest on domestic violence charges in 2010. Mariotti pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery count connected to the arrest, but maintains his innocence and stated that the plea was simply to avoid the costs of a trial.
As for Reali, he says that Mariotti is wide of the mark with his remarks on why the show is leaving the air.
“If you think the show was one thing or the other, show me, give me 20 to 30 examples. That’s how I feel,” Reali said when asked about Mariotti’s take. “We’ve done 50,000 topics. I don’t believe the show is too anything, honestly.”
Reali ultimately said that the show likely ended for several reasons. But he felt it brought immense value to ESPN while it was on the air.
“I know how this show drove ratings,” he told Front Office Sports. “I know how this show expanded the universe of the industry to the benefit of the network.”