Rich Fury/Getty Images
Sir Charles is in the weeds right now after Axios political reporter Alexi McCammond called the TNT analyst out for comments she perceived to be sexist, insensitive, and “not OK.”
McCammond claims that Barkley came in to what I’m assuming was a political function and started touting his support for Massachusetts former governor Deval Patrick. Once someone from Pete Buttigieg came around, he switched his allegiance to Pete. When McCammond reminded him he was a Deval fan, Barkley said this:
Just FYI Charles Barkley told me tonight “I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you,” and then when I objected to that he told me I “couldn’t take a joke.”
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
The tweet quickly went viral and blue check marks began piling on by calling out Barkley’s most egregious jokes over his 35 years in the spotlight.
For those unaware, Barkley also once said this (and later claimed to be joking then too), so he’s got form on this front. Disgraceful. https://t.co/3P5gwW2aZ9 pic.twitter.com/onmlmTLnJT
— Steve Smith (@stevesmithffx) November 20, 2019
The first serious conversations about domestic abuse in sports were sparked in 1990 by Barkley's comment about beating his wife. A year later, he spat on an eight-year-old girl during a game. A year after that, Nike featured him in the famous "not a role model" ad. https://t.co/xJSbFNKZie pic.twitter.com/Ahfq6JxL3T
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) November 20, 2019
https://twitter.com/carronJphillips/status/1197013357641031680?s=20
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1197013217593171968?s=20
If you’re looking for politically correct, Charles Barkley isn’t it. We’re talking about the dude who’s said this:
The cancel culture trying so hard to get Charles Barkley out of here and it ain't working. Man is bullet proof.
We need him around for more moments like this….https://t.co/Bz8SADahaz
— BLACK ADAM SCHEFTER (@B1ackSchefter) November 20, 2019
And this:
“I can be bought. If they paid me enough, I’d work for the Klan.”
And this:
I had to explain to my daughter why that skank Monica Lewinski has an hour special on HBO this weekend.
And this, referring to a fight with a member of the Angola National Team:
“Somebody hits me, I’m going to hit him back. Even if it does look like he hasn’t eaten in a couple weeks. I thought he was going to pull a spear on me.”
I wouldn’t expect Barkley to change his ways followings a little bad P.R. on social media. Say what you will about Charles, but never say he gives a damn.
I wish today's NBA players cared about critics on social media as much as Charles Barkley cared about critics on the radio in the 80s and 90s. pic.twitter.com/t2HVVnSJSp
— David Astramskas (@redapples) November 19, 2018