ESPN has issued a statement after UFC president Dana White called Ariel Helwani a ‘Douche’.
The entire saga also involved former MMA fighter, Gina Carano. The Mixed Martial Arts icon turned film star Gina Carano gave a statement comparing Republican voters to holocaust survivors. Following this statement, Gina Carano was released from Lucasfilm as the company deemed her statements as “abhorrent” and “unacceptable”
“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement (via Variety.com). “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
This statement from Gina saw UFC president Dana White come in her defense.
Dana White, regarding Gina Carano, says leave @ginacarano alone & calls Ariel Helwani a Douche #UFC258 pic.twitter.com/CZPcZk0nY0
— Helen Yee (@HelenYeeSports) February 12, 2021
“Leave Gina alone. Listen we make mistakes. We all make mistakes.” – Dana White said.
Ariel Helwani on Gina Carano’s comments
Ariel Helwani had a totally different reaction to this and he took to social media and said that he was disappointed by Gina Carano’s statement.
“Obviously I am very disappointed in what she posted. To be honest I haven’t agreed with a lot of the things she has posted over the past year. This last post, essentially comparing being a Republican in America, or having a certain political view, to being a Jew in Nazi Germany during World War 2 is asinine.” Helwani said, much opposed to the words issued by Dana White. “It is an absolutely crazy comparison to make and is completely insensitive to think that Jewish people and other minorities as well, not just Jews, but in this particular post Jews were the ones discussed, had to hide in attics and in gutters and had to be separated from their families and murdered six million of them. Umm.. to compare that to what is going on in this country is just a very tone deaf analogy to make, to put it mildly.”
“We all make mistakes. For everyone to go in on her… I love how Ariel Helwani made it all about him. It’s all about him. Such a douche.” – White said.
ESPN later released a statement in support of their journalist.
“Ariel is a valued colleague and an exceptional MMA reporter. His record speaks for itself,” ESPN told the New York Post when asked about the comments made by Dana White.