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ESPN star analyst goes there, says men should stay out of women’s sports: ‘I don’t give a sh-t!’

August 14, 2024 | | Print Article

Done with the “different set of rules,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit doubled down on his response to the “ridiculous question” about men in women’s sports.

“I don’t give a sh*t.”

Seemingly safe for now, the analyst for ESPN College Gameday joined Outkick’s “Don’t @ Me With Dan Dakich” Tuesday where he explained adding his voice to common sense in the age of cancel culture.

Explaining that no one at the sports network had said anything to him after he posted a response to the question, “Do men belong in women’s sports?” Herbstreit revealed, “I’ve been biting my tongue on a lot of topics for three years.”

“I happened to see somebody say what he said, I think he said ‘Should men be able to play in women’s sports,’ and I just said…’Ridiculous question. Of course not.’ I didn’t dwell on it, I didn’t give a long answer, that was it,” he told Dakich while noting that reaction was “way more positive than negative. I’m sure people were upset, but I think it’s kind of a no-brainer.”

A week earlier, the sportscaster had been reacting to a video from former athlete and motivational speaker Hunter Pinke as he strove toward recovery from a spinal injury, “Really appreciate your example facing such shocking adversity. So glad you’ve found a path to talk to young athletes share your story and encourage them with your passion and energy. Good for you brother–wish you all the best in everything you do and keep chasin’ that 2%!!!”

A user replied with the unrelated question, “Do men belong in women’s sports? Time for influential men in sports media to stand up, Kirk.”

To that, Herbstreit answered, “Of course not. Ridiculous question.”

Elaborating to Dakich, he said, “I don’t have a daughter; I have four sons. If I had a daughter I’d probably be way more outspoken about the discussion and topic. But, I just kind of made it sound like ‘why are you even asking this question?'”

He went on to state, “I didn’t give a sh*t though. I don’t really give a sh*t, at all. I’m done giving any sh*ts, at all, about any of it.”

“It’s almost like there are two different sets of rules, and if you have a view that’s a little bit more traditional or — you know I’m a Christian guy — it’s like there’s a different set of rules from that viewpoint. It’s hard to turn the cheek time after time after time, so yeah, I didn’t really care and don’t care at all,” the analyst went on. “Which is a good thing. I think it’s good and healthy to get to that place, compared to ‘oh, gosh, I don’t want to get canceled, I don’t want to get people upset.’ I just don’t give a sh*t.”

The remarks came following the controversial Paris Olympics where the gold medalists in two women’s boxing weight classes had previously failed gender tests. One of them, Algeria’s Imane Khelif sought another victory by filing a cyberbullying lawsuit against high-profile figures like Elon Musk and J.K. Rowling for challenging the inclusion of men in women’s sports.

For her part, the bestselling author said, “The idea that those objecting to a male punching a female in the name of sport are objecting because they believe Khelif to be ‘trans’ is a joke. We object because we saw a male punching a female.”

Kevin Haggerty
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