Greg Hardy
On Monday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter sat down for an exclusive interview with Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy regarding his involvement in an incident from 2014 in which his former girlfriend, Nicole Holder, claims Hardy brutally assaulted her, throwing her against a bathroom wall and choking her on a bed filled with weapons, all in his apartment. Late last year, pictures showing a severely bruised and battered Holder surfaced on the website Deadspin.
In the interview, which aired Tuesday, Hardy denied ever having laid hands on her or on any other woman.
The interview has unsurprisingly caused much uproar and controversy among many people who believe Hardy is guilty of this assault, and the cries and censures only became louder after Schefter called Hardy “a changed kind of guy” on The Dan Patrick Show Tuesday.
What few people expected was for one of ESPN’s own well-known employees to condemn the interview. ESPN’s SportsNation co-host Michelle Beadle spoke out on Tuesday about her thoughts on the interview:
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“I feel dirty in that this guy has no job right now, and for some reason we’ve decided as a network that we’re going to give him the stage for his redemption tour as he basically goes out and tries to find some employment,” Beadle stated. “I don’t understand why we’re doing that. If he wants to figure out a way to get his message out there — which by the way, he hasn’t said he did anything wrong, so how a man is supposed to convince anybody he’s changed and yet not admit to actually doing anything? I have no idea. But why we’re giving him the forum to go out there and tell anybody that is where I’m a little bit confused.”
Beadle’s sound and logical take on Hardy’s case and interview is certainly laudable. Her argument that ESPN shouldn’t be used as a platform that relays a message of change and contrition by upholding a player who claims he’s innocent and appears to show no remorse seems more than reasonable.
Beadle also sent out a Tweet to add to her comments:
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