Since Emperor Baby Fists won the election, I’ve been doing anything and everything I can to avoid cable news, which is why I’ve been watching The Tennis Channel non-stop. The Australian Open started this week and there’s already been so much drama. World #2 Novak Djokovic lost to Wild Card (and #117 ranked) Denis Istomin in Round 2 just hours ago, which is being called one of the biggest shocks to the tennis world in the past decade, especially given Novak’s dominance in Melbourne (he’s won the Aussie Open six times). But that’s not the only drama, because of course not. Serena and Venus Williams are competing at the Open and both sisters have been looking really good. I would argue that Venus seems to be enjoying herself more and she’s playing with more focus and freedom, but Serena’s the one who has been getting so much attention. Hours ago, Venus played her second round match against Stefanie Voegele and Venus won. But an ESPN commentator just had to make a racist remark.
Furious tennis fans have called for an American commentator to be fired after he was accused of comparing African-American tennis superstar Venus Williams to a gorilla at the Australian Open. The controversial comment was made by ESPN’s Doug Adler during Williams’ second-round match at the first Slam of the year in Melbourne against Stefanie Voegele. The 59-year-old former professional player was describing the pressure Williams was putting on the second serve of her Swiss opponent.
‘She misses a first serve and Venus is all over her,’ Adler said. ‘You see Venus move in and put the gorilla effect on. Charging.’
What it provoked was a wave of outrage on social media, including from New York Times tennis writer Ben Rothenberg who was furious at the comment.
‘This is some appalling stuff,’ Rothenberg tweeted. ‘Horrifying that the Williams sisters remained subjected to it still in 2017.’
But Rothenberg was not alone in feeling horror at the remark with Richard Ings tweeting: ‘That is unacceptable commentary. Appalling stuff.’
Victoria Chiesa tweeted that it wasn’t the first time that Adler had overstepped the mark but this was a new low. ‘Doug Adler’s said some awful things in the commentary booth before, but this is next-level disgusting,’ Chiesa wrote.
Yeah, it’s 2017 and the Williams sisters – the most dominant and most-winning sister act in the history of any sport – are still getting racist remarks about “gorillas” and “monkeys.” It seriously happens to them year in and year out. If it’s not racism, it’s sexism and body-shaming with a racist edge, especially for Serena, who is often called “too muscular” and “not feminine.” I hope ESPN fires this guy. Enough.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I wish I could say I was surprised. Cue him “apologizing” to anyone who was “offended” by his comment and lamenting “political correctness” and the loss of free speech in 3, 2, 1 …
You forgot how he’s not a racist and has black friends.
He even used to date a black woman!
Sounds about right. So effing depressing.
WHAT THE F IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?! Seriously, how can this happen, still?
Ikr…this is awful
Yuck. Horrible. I have also been disgusted by some of the fairly similar remarks made about FLOTUS. I guess successful black women are targets for denigration by others.
OH MY GAWWWD. WTF!
Racist.
It’s disgusting.
Because our new orange POTUS opened the flood gates for hate.
Exactly. The racists, bigots and xenophobe have been emboldened. So hurtful and ignorant.
Ironically, the new president looks like an orangutan but woe betide anyone who makes that analogy on air.
It happens still because the foundation of this nation is genocide and chattel slavery. A nation built on a foundation of that–and implicit denial of that fact from white people through the present day, a refusal to face the truth of how it infects and affects every aspect of our national systems, and continued benefit from the systems established through genocide and slavery–can never be free of it. Over 50% of white women voted this PEOTUS into power, against their own best interests. Maintaining white supremacy continues to supersede all other concerns. We will all, especially Black people and POC, pay the price again. My only hope is that resistance communities are strong and mobilized. Who knows…We are entering a period that will look like a combination of Children of Men, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Book of Eli all rolled into one… 🙁
wow, really? surely he’ll say he “didn’t mean it in a racist way”.
then why did you pick a term that has historically been used as a derogatory term for AAs?
there are so many other ways you could have made your point. you couldn’t simply say, “she puts the pressure on”?
How about calling it the “Venus effect.” Her aggressive game is legendary. All players should strive to replicate it. Instead of insulting her incredible strategy, Adler should be lauding it.
This exactly. He painted a picture with his words and in the picture Venus is a gorilla. Ready to vomit I’m so offended.
I love that, “The Venus Effect.” Calls to mind a powerful, luminous goddess.
From our beautiful FLOTUS Michelle Obama to Venus, it doesn’t matter to these deeply racist individuals. What they say on t.v. is only the tip of the iceberg compared to what I’m sure happens in private. These are the systems of infection that make this nation ugly and make it near-impossible for Black folk and POC to ever break even.
I’m so offended and I’m not black.
How dare he?
Plus she’s also incredibly beautiful, why cannot a spectacularly muscular woman be beautiful?
I’d like to ban all ‘feminine’ ‘ladylike’ and similar adjectives as representative of just ‘one’ version of ‘womanness’.
Same. I’m offended by the stereotype thrust upon women that if they aren’t slim and willowy they must be less female. D*ckwad analysts like this guy feel secure in their self-righteous opinions; they fail to address their own feelings of inferiority. Firing him (as ESPN must do) will put a band-aid on the wound, but it won’t get rid of the bigotry that exists and always will exist.
I favor the Williams’ sisters build… tall, muscular, broad-shouldered, and with three brothers I felt I had no choice but to play sports and make use of my strengths. I learned from a very young age to ignore the insensitive remarks I’d hear from people constantly, not only from males who felt threatened, but from women who had a different body type. Inferences like this make a person develop a hard shell, inside and out, and they become even stronger because they must. Growing up, I hated being around people because I knew I’d have to smile at their idiotic remarks and pretend it didn’t hurt. The best revenge is becoming extremely proficient at something that others, who don’t possess your characteristics, can’t. The Williams sisters have.
This is so infuriating. I fear we’re just getting started with this stuff. Racists have been emboldened by this election, and they’re prouder than ever of their ignorance. I’m sure they’re already all over Twitter saying, “So what? He didn’t mean it like that!”
ETA: By just getting started, I didn’t mean that it’s only now beginning, just that there’s going to be an even bigger resurgence of trying to normalize racism.
I think you’re right. Not only a bigger resurgence to normalize racism, but also a more vocal one. This is just the worst.
This.
We are “not just getting started with this stuff”. I have been watching the Williams sisters play for over 15 years. About a decade ago I decided to watch their matches with the TV set to mute. As a black female, it is not only disheartening to see the blatant racist abuse that we are subjected to daily, but the constant de-humanising of our very being as humans. so many haters on this #BlackGirlMagic
Exactly! It’s always interesting to see white people talk about how racist people are becoming. I’ve heard the Williams sisters referred to as apes and gorillas and man like since I was 11 years old and earlier, I’ve heard the kinds of racist comments made by people like trump and his affiliates for just as long and I’m 21 now. This kind of emotionally violent and degrading dehumanizing racism isn’t new at all. It’s just gotten loud enough white people can hear it.
I feel it’s more male/female oriented. From 8 years old and on I was called names by the males of our species who were threatened by size, strength and intelligence coming from a female. I grew so tired of it, built a shell around my feelings and heart, and I swore that if I had sons I would teach them equality and respect.
truth
😒 So Shocking Unexpected and Surprising! NOT This! Not In the Tennis World!! Not To THESE Particular dominating Black Girls! *runs away in dramatic movie horror styles, hand straight to my mouth!, The Shock, you see!*
Right? I’m surprised people are surprised. Their whole damn career the Williams sister have been targets for this sh*t.
This doesn’t surprise me either, but I’m still sick of this ish.
I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Same here. Racial stress is at peak tension; sexism stress, too. I keep thinking that we’ll basically living in an Apartheid government starting tomorrow, in so much as the group with the minority viewpoint takes control. How is this happening!? I mean, is it time to dismantle the electoral college? Or, does it act as a safeguard, but just doesn’t seem like it right now? Do the rules just need to be tweaked?
It’s all too stressful. I’ve basically been paralyzed by suffocating helplessness and fear for 3 days now.
Me too. Every day this week I’ve woken up with a sense of dread, and then remember why.
Thoughtless asshole.
WTF? Just… WTF?
And here you see Doug Adler put a racist dumb*ss effect on. Charging.
so sick of this shit.
Has anyone seen a blobfish … it kind of reminds me of that Australian sports commenter … not a lot of muscle anymore.
God almighty. One hideous consequence of Brexit, here in the UK, & the incoming shitstorm in the States, is that it’s now okay to be racist. It’s okay to be abusive. It’s okay to mock people. It’s okay to grab pussies. It’s okay to sneer & belittle. It’s okay to say whatever the hell you want. It’s okay not to read or learn or show any kind of humility. Jesus what the hell has happened to the world.
2017 isn’t shaping up to be any better than 2016.
The worst part is that the ones spewing the most of this ignorant garbage are the so-called the holier-than-thou self-righteous “Christians”. If Jesus were alive today, he would be appalled at the things said and done in his name.
Jesus has likely been appalled at the things said and done in his name for more than 1000 years.
God damn it. I’m so pissed. I’m so f*cking pissed that this is the world we’re still living in. I know it’s no surprise to any WOC, and that I’m just waking up to it now as opposed to having to deal with it my whole life. But what the hell?!?! This is so inexcusable. I’m just hoping that this wave of ugliness is a precursor to a turning of the tides in a more positive direction. I’m sorry, Venus. I’m sorry, sisters of color. This is so f*cked.
Yup, totally fucked. Nothing like being hated on for something I can’t control like skin colour. It’s going to get worse before it gets better and I am not looking forward to it.
I’m so sorry. And I’m sad to say, I know it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
But know two things:
One, I’m with you. So many people are with you. And we are living in an age where people will hear us whether they’d like to or not. I could go post my opinion on 5 different social platforms right now. And the genuinely wonderful people I know are just as pissed about this as we are. And Saturday, we’re going to give f*ckheads like this a taste of what the next four years are going to be like if sh!t continues as it is. We will stand up and we will speak up, and we will let the world know it won’t be tolerated. Thousands are marching on Washington Saturday. I can’t be there myself, but I’m going to somewhat of a sister march in Atlanta. We won’t be quiet about this.
Two: I feel very strongly that this is the beast’s last cries. I truly believe there are people in the world who are waking up, and the ugly animals that are racism, ignorance, bigotry, and intolerance are lashing and screaming loudly as they start to die. I know they will always be around in some form. But I believe and I hope that the pendulum will swing the other way. I read an article the other day about the Divine Mother, which basically said the patriarchy is yelling and screaming and gasping as the feminine begins to rise. I hope so. And until the pendulum does swing, we won’t be quiet.
He’s awful obviously, it’s clear where his mind is.
On the bright side I will say though that incidents like this show again and again how pressed so much of the elitist tennis community is that the two best women to play this stupid sport, possibly ever, are two American Black women from the “lower classes”. It upsets these a-holes sooooo much. Seethe and cry you gross elitists. Seethe! 😏
She pounces like a lion….moves in like a shark….overpowers like a predator….springs like a cheetah…there are many, many other analogies that a sports caster could make if he or she spent longer than 5 minutes preparing. Even if this guy tries to defend his choice of words it was still incredibly lazy at best. Fire him.
Cue the apology – with gun to his head.
And he’ll be careful to not repeat this kid of remark in public, (but keep sniggering about it in private with his friends).
I’m sadly not surprised that people are still racist and sexist, especially after the horrible 2016, which seemed to take us back at least half a century. What I find surprising is their lack of self-awareness. How could this guy not realize that such comment would bring him media backlash and (hopefully) the risk of losing his job? There was 0% chance of this getting unnoticed. Despite all the whining about living in a PC world, so much people still make racist comments publicly, wear black-face on Halloween or head-dresses during Coachella like they have been living under a rock.
On the second thought though – Trump did worse things and became a President – it gave a lot of confidence to all the hidden neo-nazis. Nothing should surprise us anymore.
I also think that the most horrendous by-product of the Obama presidency, is the obvious racism and sexism displayed by the Republican Party over the last eight years. It’s like their blatant disrespect and outright hostility shown towards Mr. Obama has served to normalize and legitimatize the recent increase in unashamedly racist acts and opinions in America. Just look at the actions of some police. It’s so sick!
I agree 100%. The mocking, shaming and backhanded “compliments” these two outstanding ATHLETES receive on a daily basis is DISGUSTING. Their bodies are routinely criticized, their race and gender are used as laugh lines, and all for no other reason then that they’re AMAZING at what they do. I’ve heard Serena described as “hulking” and “grunting” more times than I can count, and the not-so-subtle racial overtones? Gross meet grosser.
Seriously, F this guy and F ESPN if they don’t cut him loose immediately, because I can guarantee that just about EVERYBODY watching their tennis coverage is doing so to see Venus and Serena play and NO ONE is tuning in to hear Capt What’s-his-name talk about it.
I’ve stopped assuming since it’s 2017(!!!) that this type of crap won’t continue to happen, so I’m not shocked at all. Some people just don’t care…
what the actual f#ck.
He should be fired. End of Story.
Venus is an amazing player. She deserves respect for her athleticism. That she continues to play despite having Sjogren’s Syndrome, makes her even more amazing.
WOW! That’s amazing. I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome (may not be, waiting on my MS test results) and just sitting in the stands watching tennis would be hard for me! She rocks!
Racist jerk. How it’s even repeatedly allowed is beyond me. Amazing athletes and they have to put up with so much repetitive garbage it’s ridiculous.
#TrumpEffect. I’m so sick of being embarrassed and disgusted by our “fellow Americans.” We must push back. We are the majority, not these racist, ignorant, a-holes. Here is how we can contact ESPN and demand Doug Adler be fired: Studio phone: 800-919-ESPN(3776). Office Phone: 646-699-6800
Address
ESPN –
Programming
125 West End Avenue
6th Floor
New York, NY 10023
Done!
thanks for the contact info
Thank you!!! Real action, makes ALL the difference in the world.
Let’s hope either Serena or Venus wins the Open!!! Go WIlliams Sisters!!!
It’s never not racist to compare a Black woman to an ape/monkey/gorilla. Never not.
The written reports of this guy’s comment are being taken out of context. He said “guerilla effect” referring to how strongly Venus was playing. After listening to the actual broadcast, I believe he meant guerrila warfare but instead said “geurilla effect.” His poor choice of words makes him sound dumb. I am not sticking up for the guy, but the reporting of this incident is incorrect even by Celebitchy (and this is my favorite site).
From a dictionary:
” guerrilla warfare, harassing the enemy by surprise raids, sabotaging communication and supply lines, etc. adjective. 2. pertaining to such fighters or their technique of warfare: …”
I made two comments (above) before I listened to the actual broadcast and I apologize for my own misunderstanding.
No, he didn’t. “Guerrilla” means the opposite of “charging,” which is the very next thing he said. Guerrilla means stealth. Charging means direct. Sometimes a racist cigar is just a racist cigar.
I’m dating a black guy and I tease him and say he’s a spider monkey. I say it because he so quick and gets to me so fast. Didn’t mean it to be racist, but I asked him if he thought the “monkey” part was. He said no because spider monkey means fast. When writers like the ESPN guy use racist terms, it upsets me because I hate to see so many people hurt.
OK. F this. Gorillas are fierce, noble, intelligent creatures. They’re graceful & beautiful. I’m rebranding this. I am Black woman and I am #Gorilla4Life. 🦍
That guy can suck it
Go for it. And yeah, he can suck it.
He’d better be fired! Jesus christ! What the hell is wrong with people?!?!?! I just can’t even comprehend it when I read about stuff like this….
I played tennis when I was a kid and I love this sport. The Williams sisters were always my everything. They are inspirational and #goals. My son is very interested in sports and plays football. I tell him about them all the time. He is also a fan of girl surfers and girl athletes. I cannot imagine him watching ESPN and hearing this kind of comment. I am appalled and sad and ashamed that men, white as me, are so primitive and backwards.
So happy tennis has people like Andy Murray.
I have been watching the Williams sisters play for 15 years. They are my peers and I love tennis. As a black teenager going to a mostly white, all girl school, it was amazing to see girls on TV that looked just like me, with hair in cool braids just like me.
10 years ago I decided to only watch them with the TV on mute. The biggoted commentary from the US ESPN reporters was too much. The US ESPN commentators were always the same handful, and it was never diverse, and they always attacked Serena if she made even 1 mistake.
As a black female, it is not only disheartening to see the blatant racist abuse that me and my peers are subjected to, especially from the media, and to see how this trickles down to discrimination in daily life. Black females are at the receiving end of constant de-humanising of our very being as humans. Even as I look at my online dating matches of the day, many men sent to me have clicked every race available, except Black. Only when they see my picture and read my profile have a few of those guys reached out to me, which is so odd to me.
My last boyfriend was a lovely white guy who made me a thoughtful “Breakfast at Wimbledon” treat to get up early and watch Wimbledon live. As we ate salmon capers bagels, I asked if I could mute the TV. He asked me why, and I gently said that “sometimes they are not very nice when Serena or Venus plays”. He was new to watching tennis. He said no problem, but I left it unmuted as we ate in silence, watching. After the first match (5 mins), he said “Wow. The commentators are kind of negative towards her”. I just smiled and muted the TV. #Enough
PS: This is why it makes me so happy she, at the age of 35, is engaged to a successful, respected, attractive white guy in tech. As Bey says “Always stay gracious. Best revenge is your paper”. #BlackGirlMagic
Here’s the thing. You’re a commentator, you make a lot of money, you make a racist comment, you lose your job, your health insurance and your money. End of story.
ESPN needs to step up and get rid of this guy. Doug Adler should not be getting paid a lot of money to spew racist garbage. For the Williams sisters to endure this kind of BS their entire career and hold their head high, they are women to be honored. I couldn’t be that strong. I would have fallen apart long ago.
Yes, he needs to go. He’s a public representation of their company, and this is wholly unacceptable. I’m sure he’ll make a lame ass “apology” and there will be people (inaccurately) crying free speech, and we’ll start all over again when someone else does something similar. But there has to be consequences, and these companies should have a zero tolerance policy for such behavior.
Fire his sorry ass. There’s a million talking heads to take his place.
Okay, ass*ole. You are so done. I could do your job. “Hey , look at her determination, her power, her skill”. “The strength this player has is awesome” “Her skill is unmatchable”. And yes, athletes can be likened to animals in the ways they move..”She is like a lioness”. FFS, I don’t even work in broadcasting but this jerk isn’t fit to call a game of bingo, nevermind a sporting event.
Okay – I heard the comment live and I heard it as guerilla – as in a tactic – and didn’t see anything about racist about it. Even after hearing the outrage, I am still not seeing her having been called as employing a guerilla tactic as bad as everyone is saying. If anything, this is showing how language is evolving that guerilla is not understood by the viewing public to be vastly different than gorilla
But ‘guerilla tactics’ usually denotes a surreptitious attack, not a full frontal, charging attack.
*pats head* keep trying.
also, go read a dictionary, bc what Lambda said
@Tig… you are correct. Adler may have meant “guerilla warfare,” but he actually SAID “guerilla effect.”.
As soon as the words “guerilla effect” came out of his mouth I thought how stupid it sounded and just knew a huge misunderstanding would take place. There are SO many other phrases he could’ve used to describe her aggressive play. He did NOT say gorilla.
@anon33… why the condescension for Tig? Many people also understood what Adler was trying to say.
From the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Guerrilla: a person who engages in irregular warfare especially as a member of an independent unit carrying out harassment and sabotage…”
There are other definitions of this word, guerilla, too.
You can repeat it as much as you like, but the definition of “guerrilla effect” is precisely the opposite of the very next word that came out of his mouth, which was “charging.” There are no other definitions of the word guerrilla.
If he meant guerrilla I am sure he would have said that especially after the blacklash.
He added the word “charging”. I would associate the word charging with a gorilla rather than a guerilla. If he had said a guerilla tactic, that would have been another thing.
He knows exactly what he did.
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military.
And how does this relate to tennis? I call BS. He said gorilla. Charging. Period. He is just lying to keep his job.
ESPN is a pretty vile network. My husband refuses to watch them. They way they treated the New England Patriots in the alleged deflategate (a controversy that never happened). Anything they say about anybody is pretty bad. I’m not surprised that they said anything bad about any of the Williams, it just makes me sad.
One of the few times I’ve ever been impressed by Sherri Shepherd is her defense of the Williams sisters. It was years ago on The View, and they were covering an article or comment regarding how unfair the Williams sisters dominance was to female tennis players. Sherri basically said – Then practice more, try harder! That’s how Venus and Serena did it.
I mean, what are they supposed to do? Give up the sport so everyone else gets a chance? Has that ever been said about a dominating male tennis player? Unfair! (Maybe it was Trump himself who was complaining.)
I live in Belgium.
A few years back, a radio commenter did the same about Venus during an Antwerp game against Kim Clijsters, calling Venus ‘a smart monkey’
Within seconds, the radio was floaded with calls calling him out. Within an hour, he was asked to get out of the station and stay at his place until the manager would eventually call him back after the storm has died.
The next day, after less than 24 hours, an anti racism organisation and some people officially filed a complain against the derogatory comments which in a lot of european countries is against the law and fraught with judicial consequences .
He was officially sacked a day later with no benefits (and Belgium is one of the top countries with some of the best social protections, leaving conditions and sickness benefits. The reason why workers here pay so many taxes on their wages because we have a very generous and universal social system based on solidarity).
If memory serves me well he was found guilty of all charges, had to pay a fine while having a criminal record preventing him from many future jobs.
OK, as an Australian who was at the Australian Open, I feel entitled to say:
EFF YOU, YOU RACIST PIECE OF GARBAGE!
How much more racist bullshit do these sisters have to put up with??
ENOUGH.
Venus and Serena have a million times more grace and class than I do, because I would start using my oh-so-scary-and-intimidating muscles to put the smack down on these people.
I took it to mean “guerrilla” as in guerrilla warfare, wherein a sudden, all-out attack leaves the enemy (opponent) slack-jawed asking, “What just happened?”
“Sudden, all out attack”–yeah, that would be a ‘blitzkrieg’, and just about the opposite of guerrilla warfare. Nice try, though. You keep doing those cheetah flips of logic.
TotallyBiased, what a lovely ray of sunshine you are. Silly me for believing the hype that this is a place of intelligent, civil discourse. You keep acing those vocab tests, mkay?I feel sorry for whoever has to share a cubicle with you.
Team TotallyBiased. Words have meaning.
He did not mean guerrilla warfare. He is a racist and ESPN should fire him.
Meanwhile, Bo Bice cried after a black waitress referred to him as “white boy”.
You are all so full of shit coming out pretending you are all so offended. Bunch of snowflakes. She does look like a gorilla anyway……..same body and physique. So what’s the big deal! Geez