Yesterday, we took a moment to address a minor sports media controversy with a bizarre cast of characters. Jason Whitlock, a loudmouthed pundit with decidedly conservative attitudes about race, had taken a shot at Colin Kaepernick, a free agent quarterback and proudly pro-black activist, by putting an Afro wig on Christopher “Kid” Reid, an aging rapper and comedian whose politics we won’t speculate about (he’s one half of Kid n’ Play). Whitlock had tweeted a photo of Reid in a Kaepernick costume, ostensibly to promote a future segment on his Fox Sports 1 show Speak For Yourself. The stunt felt like a scummy attempt to ridicule Kaepernick for supporting causes like Black Lives Matter, and a lot of people–including at least one of Whitlock’s colleagues at FS1–were put off by it. Now, it seems that the sketch isn’t happening at all.
Based on information from “a source familiar with the situation,” Deadspin is reporting that Whitlock’s producers decided to cancel the segment because it didn’t meet the show’s standards. According to the source, the sketch was never officially greenlit, and Whitlock never shot a completed version of it. Anyone who was eagerly awaiting screen time for Kid will just have to wait for another House Party sequel.
