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Mina Kimes is one of the best analysts that ESPN currently employs. Don’t believe me? Just wait until you see the bidding war that breaks out when her contract with the network expires this year.
Some sad folks, however, aren’t able to see past Mina Kimes’ gender and race when discussing the rising ESPN personality, such as Boston radio host Chris Curtis, who has found himself in the crosshairs of the sports media world following some offensive comments he made this week.
During a recent conversation on WEEI about their favorite nips (mini bottles of alcohol) — truly the highest quality of content out there — Curtis mentioned Kimes’ name. You can see the video of Curtis’ comment below, which is followed by a grin that suggests he knew exactly what he was saying:
— Dave Cullinane (@davecullinane) March 22, 2023
As per The New York Post, “nip is an ethnic slur against Japanese people, referring to a shortened version of Nippon, which is the Japanese name for the country.” Kimes, of course, isn’t even Japanese: she’s half-Korean.
Making matters even worse is the fact that, according to Boston Globe reporter Chad Finn, the corporate wing of WEEI is trying to claim that Curtis “meant to” refer to actress Mila Kunis instead of Kimes.
Story on @_ChrisCurtis using an ethnic slur on WEEI this morning should be up shortly. No response to multiple requests over there, but get this — corporate claims he meant Mila Kunis, not Mina Kimes.
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) March 22, 2023
Clearly trying to respond to Curtis while also taking the high road, Kimes recently and quietly changed her Twitter profile picture to a photo of Kunis.
Should Kimes hit the open market this year, she’d undoubtedly be one of the biggest free agents in sports media, with companies such as Bill Simmons’ The Ringer, Dan LeBatard’s Meadowlark Media, NFL Network, Fox, CBS, NBC, and even actual NFL teams likely being interested in acquiring her services.
Kimes, 37 years old, graduated summa cum laude from Yale University before eventually joining ESPN as a writer. Over the years, Kimes’ on-air profile grew to the extent that she now makes frequent appearances on staple ESPN shows such as Around The Horn, First Take, NFL Live, Pardon the Interruption, and more.