ESPN NBA analyst Rachel Nichols found herself trending on social media for terrible reasons that had nothing to do with anything that she had done.
On Saturday morning, Paul Pierce went viral after he went live with a ton of strippers at his home.
Paul Pierce was wildin on IG live pic.twitter.com/tsPGQfhnPe
— MMA Insider (@MMAInsider_) April 3, 2021
A viewer on the live stream made a comment about Pierce’s ESPN colleague Rachel Nichols which also went viral and put Nichols’ at one of the top trends of the social media app.
https://twitter.com/CaelusVulkanus/status/1378354758667399174
ESPN reporter Jenna Laine took exception to misogynistic fans getting Nichols trading for such an absurd reason.
Seeing ‘Rachel Nichols’ trending and I’m immediately reminded of all the bullsh— women in our biz continue to have to deal with…from FANS.
You guys want to know why a lot of us aren’t as active on social media and don’t engage as much as our male counterparts? Sh— like that.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) April 3, 2021
People say, ‘Oh, it was a joke. Lighten up.’ Remember in the NBA Bubble, when a player (I’m redacting the name out of respect) accidentally posted what sounded like explicit audio on IG Live? Jokes were made about two female reporters there. It’s a pattern. And it’s disgusting.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) April 3, 2021
Laine made sure to fire back at all the awful fans who defended the reason why Nichols was trending.
Except it’s not just one person. It’s a myriad of people. You would be APPALLED at the messages we receive in our inboxes.
And I disagree. With a platform, comes the opportunity to educate on objectification, sexual harassment and misogyny…to make things better for others. https://t.co/rgnDsCQS0H
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) April 3, 2021
“Change the narrative.”
What exactly do you think it is that I’m doing here, Wayne?
You don’t change something by refusing to acknowledge it. https://t.co/50rEez6NFo
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) April 3, 2021
In other words, ‘You asked for it?’ Right? https://t.co/7pieGjYRqE
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) April 3, 2021
They’re not always “just words,” Edward. They can, in fact, follow you offline, on the way home, into elevators and into your hotel room, as the situation with Erin Andrews showed us. https://t.co/L5NbGFa6Zt
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) April 3, 2021