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Malika Andrews.
Leon Bennett/Getty Images for EBONYESPN’s Malika Andrews has been honest about criticism she has received for perceived racial bias in her reports.
Andrews, 29, appeared on NBA star DeMar DeRozanmental health talk series, Dinners With DeMarwhere the NBA Today a NBA Countdown the host explained how she has been forced to confront the narrative.
“The hardest part for me sometimes is to stomach untruths, especially this, ‘You hate Black men,'” Andrews told DeRozan, 35. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. And using my family or the way my family looks like some kind of evidence of that. That is not true. And it’s unkind.”
Andrews is of mixed race parents and the spouse of a fellow ESPN reporter Dave McMenaminwhich is white, in August.
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images Four months after his dramatic firing from ESPN, former NFL star Robert Griffin III insists it’s all water under the bridge. Griffin, 34, was let go by the network in August after signing a multi-year deal through 2021. He was replaced by Jason Kelce as co-host of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown in (…)
“It hurts, and I think that’s okay to say sometimes. It hurts,” Andrews admitted. “It doesn’t matter if it’s somebody who’s credible or somebody with a big platform or if it’s somebody in their mother’s basement firing a post. Sometimes it hurts when that seeps through, especially to me when it’s not true.”
Former NFL wide receiver Dez Bryant criticized Andrews during her coverage of the 2023 NBA Draft, arguing that she spent time discussing criminal charges brought against a draft pick Brandon Millerwho is Black, although it does not cover an alleged relationship between a minor pick and a draft pick Josh Giddeywhich is white.
“I advise you not to make this a black or white thing,” Bryant, 36, posted through X at the time. “Your parents raised you wrong and just because you went to a private school doesn’t make you better. You are appealing and I know your type. You’re just a puppet. I don’t know how a former nba player or a current player could sit there across from you and look at you with some kind of respect.”
Before Meghan Markle was a Duchess, former ESPN host Ryen Russillo hoped things could go down in the DMs. Russillo, 49, who now works for The Ringer, recalled meeting Markle, 43, over Super Bowl weekend in 2014. “We played in a famous flag football game together and it was all swimsuit (Sports Illustrated) (…)
While vehemently disagreeing with views such as Bryant’s, Andrews acknowledged that his journalistic record is not dull.
“We all have jobs to do and we do our best – I try to do my best – to show up every day in a way you know what I mean,” he said to DeRozan. “That does not mean that I have covered every story perfectly. It doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes. But I think I’m pretty good at telling you in particular, ‘It could have been better there.'”
He added, “As social media continues to be more in the world, it’s that kindness and that humanity that I worry sometimes that we’re losing.”
