ESPN can dish it out but can’t take it.
As Tom Izzo was about to take the podium Saturday at Little Caesars Arena, Michigan State interim president John Engler had a tense back-and-forth exchange with a reporter about the ongoing sexual assault controversies that have engulfed the university in recent months.
The former Michigan governor blasted ESPN for its own problems with sexual assault cases, nearly two months after the network ran a story in the wake of the Larry Nassar sentencing detailing allegations into Izzo’s basketball program and Mark Dantonio’s football program.
“The 50,000 students on campus are going to class, and they want a safe environment. I think you have a safer environment today, and with the changes we are making, we’re making significant progress,” Engler told a small scrum of reporters. “That’s very much to the good and that response to the larger national debate that ESPN is wrapped up in.
“Look at the sexual assaults you guys are dealing with as a company. It’s pretty serious. In many ways, their company is one of the worst offenders in the nation. So we have a sexual assault challenge in America today. But for Michigan State, we’re dealing with it on our campus.”
According to the Associated Press, a lawsuit filed in federal court earlier this month by a former ESPN employee alleges the network has a culture of sexual harassment and then ostracizes women who complain about it.
ESPN reporter Dan Murphy followed up and asked Engler, “Do you not think Michigan State is one of the worst offenders of sexual assault right now?”
Engler answered, “Oh, I think ESPN is far worse than many companies in America today.”
Murphy countered, “That’s not the question I asked you. Do you think Michigan State is a worse offender of that?”