War of words over ‘boobs’ continues between CNN and Fox Sports hosts – By Joe Concha (thehill.com) / Sept 16 2017
CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin and Fox Sports radio host Clay Travis continued a war of words well after a Friday segment that went viral when Travis declared his love “for the First Amendment and boobs” on national television.
Late Friday, Baldwin wrote an op-ed condemning Travis’ comments as “demeaning to women” and Travis in his response implied Baldwin was hypocritical for getting upset over a discussion of “boobs” but not over “nipples.”
The conflict started earlier on Friday during a segment discussing the controversy surrounding ESPN anchor Jemele Hill calling President Trump a “white supremacist” on Twitter earlier this week.
“I’m a First Amendment absolutist and believe in two things completely — the First Amendment and boobs,” Travis said to Baldwin on “CNN Newsroom.”
Baldwin ended the segment soon thereafter and wrote an op-ed on CNN.com Friday night to explain why she chose to halt the interview.
“The newsroom around me fell silent. I was staring into the camera trying to make sense of what was unfolding on live television,” she wrote. “I even caught my cameraman Jay’s eyes in disbelief. I thought again: ‘It is 2017, and this grown man is on my show talking with me — a female host — about boobs. Is this seriously happening?’”
“And then I did something I’ve done only a handful of times in my career. I told the control room to kill his mic and said ‘bye,'” she wrote. “I invite a variety people on my show with wide-ranging opinions — sometimes even my jaw hits the floor, too — but I let them speak. Whether it’s left, right or center — I want to expose my viewers to other perspectives. Agree with them or not, the nation needs to listen.”
The anchor ended with a jab at cable news rival Fox News.
“He works at Fox Sports Radio. Maybe he should learn from folks over at Fox News — being demeaning to women does have consequences,” she said. Several Fox News anchors have been caught up in sexual harassment charges. Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes both left the network amid such allegations.
Travis responded quickly on Twitter, pointing to a CNN New Year’s Eve segment where Baldwin was co-hosting with anchor Don Lemon and the word “nipple” was discussed several times.
“Nipple, nipple, nipple, nipple,” co-host Kathy Griffin said after Baldwin asked her if Lemon should get a tattoo or a piercing.
“I love you, Kathy. I love you,” replied Baldwin.
Lemon proceeded to get his ear pierced.
Travis also serves as an analyst for Fox Sports 1’s college football pregame show.
Baldwin has been an anchor for CNN since 2008.
PB/TK – Well at least, for a brief moment, CNN wasn’t talking Russian collusion. But what does Ms Baldwin expect in today’s world, people are going to say anything for effect or affect, that’s why so Cable news is filled with more commentating programming then actual news reporting.
