Paige and Crawford Should Be Fired
| 15
|
by user Tyduffy
It has been circling the newspapers and blogosphere, and, likely due to pending legal issues, has been kept under wraps by ESPN. Woody Paige, a columnist for the Denver Post and frequent guest of ESPN show Around the Horn, as well as First Take and former Cold Pizza co-host Jay Crawford have been the subject of a sexual harrassment suit brought by former makeup artist and hair stylist Rita Ragone.
According to the Associated Press, Ragone claims that Paige "pinched and fondled her." She alleges that he "repeatedly made vulgar remarks about her appearance." She also accuses Crawford of making "unwanted sexual advances." She states that she was told to "keep quiet" after bringing her concerns to officials at ESPN and Atlantic Video.
The New York Daily News states that Paige "grabbed her rear end so hard that she jumped." The article also describes how Crawford stated to her "I don't care if you can do makeup or not...The only reason you got the job here is because you're hot." It also makes reference to Paige commenting that "Rita looks like she's really good at giving blowjobs" when she walked into the room.
Paige sent an e-mail to the Associated Press stating "It's not true," declining further comment. Crawford refused to respond to inquries. ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys stated "The suit is without merit, and we deny the allegations."
Woody was previously forced to resign as Executive Sports editor at The Denver Post in 1992 after a female assistant accused him of calling her "a crude term for the female anatomy" during an office argument.
The popular sportsblog The Big Lead cites an unnamed source close to the set of Cold Pizza/First Take who alleges that Paige was also constantly bringing "new girlfriends" by the set, which the cameramen termed "the bimbo brigade" and was outraged when these women were forced to stay in the green room, rather than watching him on set.
Regardless of whether or not these specific accusations are true (Ragone does "coincidentally" have an upcoming release of her book The Magical Beauty Book describing her work as a "Stylist to the Stars") and of whether it legally qualifies as sexual harrassment in a court of law, it is fairly clear that the environment fostered by these two men was, at best, entirely unacceptable in a workplace.
These incidents harken back to the misogynistic male-oriented workplace, in many places still intact, where women are, often sexualized, objects who are there to perform menial, mindless, and peripheral tasks for the male boss. To anyone with a sense of decency, this attitude is entirely abhorrent.
Harold Reynolds got fired by ESPN immediately for a similar incident involving an allegedly inappropriate hug given to a female colleague. What makes this case any different? The fact that a lawsuit has already been brought forward?
ESPN, named as a defendant in the suit, obviously wants to fight the case to avoid a payout and the associated negative publicity. However, the greater concern should be the long-term image and direction of the network. The "four letters," as it is less than affectionately called by many bloggers, has, for all its faults, done an exemplary job promoting minority writers and analysts, as well as breaking an unspoken barrier by assigning female analysts to cover male sports. Crawford and Paige, through their actions have become a festering, puss-filled whitehead on the face of the network, and should be disposed of accordingly.
