Shaun White had a very good day on the halfpipe, which turned into a very bad day at his press conference afterward.
It was a tale of two halves for Shaun White on Sunday at the Men’s halfpipe final. The Olympian won the third gold medal of his career, bringing full circle a comeback story that started four years ago in Sochi. White is back on top, but with the spotlight on him, allegations of sexual harassment are resurfacing.
White settled a sexual harassment lawsuit out of court back in 2016 with Lena Zawaideh, who was the drummer in his band at the time. She alleged that White “repeatedly sexually harassed her and forced his authoritarian management style on her for over seven years,” including showing her pornographic imagery against her will.
It doesn’t matter where on the spectrum of terrible things this all lands, it’s not good. Against the backdrop of #MeToo and Time’s Up, the allegations against White have resurfaced and his open refusal to comment on the matter is only enraging those who want him to be held accountable.
That was front and center in his press conference following the gold medal final. White was hammered by ABC’s Matt Gutman on the issue, but there was apparently more to the story. A handful of female reporters apparently were attempting to ask White questions but were all passed over in favor of male reporters.
Shaun White just called the awful allegations against him “gossip” in a press conference where no woman journalist was called upon even though several, including me, had their hand up the entire time. #MeToo
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) February 14, 2018
It turns out, for whatever reason, no female reporters were called on to ask questions despite attempts to do so. Brennan wasn’t the only female reporter who was passed over, which makes this all feel less coincidental.
Interesting. Amy Robach of GMA and Christine Brennan of USA Today both had hands raised entire Shaun White press conference. Not one woman was called on for a question. There were about 8 questions allowed. https://t.co/Sc2CSSukGg
— Julie Foudy (@JulieFoudy) February 14, 2018
He called the allegations “gossip”, which White later apologized for.
Compounding the backlash against White is the fact that NBC went out of its way to sell his Olympic journey as a redemption tour, glossing over any mention of the sexual harassment suit. Mike Tirico, who has his own sordid past with sexual harassment from his days at ESPN, conducted the piece on White which only added to the outrage.