Veteran sports broadcaster Al Michaels will not be disciplined by NBC for his tasteless joke comparing the New York Giants to Harvey Weinstein, according to Brian Flood of Fox News.
“NBC will not discipline veteran broadcaster Al Michaels for a comment he made about disgraced Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein during Sunday’s game between the New York Giants and Denver Broncos — a comment that critics called insulting to women,” Flood wrote Monday.
During Sunday night’s broadcast of the Giants game between the Denver Broncos — a game New York won 23-10 — Michaels quipped that the 0-5 Giants “are coming off a worse week than Harvey Weinstein, and they’re up by 14!”
Michaels’ comment was clearly ill-advised, as Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment and rape by multiple women. Weinstein, the co-founder of Miramax Films, was recently fired due to these allegations.
Social media was immediately inflamed with most roundly criticizing Michaels for his tasteless joke, and he apologized briefly on air afterwards, saying the joke was “not meant in that manner… so my apologies.” .
The 72-year-old announcer is known for being extremely professional, which was partly why his comment was so shocking. To compare a struggling team that has dealt with injuries galore this year to a man who’s being accused of horrible attacks on women was wrong, pure and simple.