Media top headlines December 14
In media news today, charges filed against a CNN producer of inducing minors for sex reveal shocking details, progressives erupt over Elon Musk being named TIME 'Person of the Year,' and The Atlantic's David Frum suggests unvaccinated patients should be treated last in hospitals.
ESPN was accused of spreading "misinformation" after it shared a clip from its new TV special about NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace.
Wallace, made national headlines in June 2020 after he asserted that someone had hanged a noose in his garage at Talladega Superspeedway in the wake of the unrest following the murder of George Floyd.
Days later, an investigation from the FBI concluded that the rope attached to his garage door had been there since at least October 2019 and that "nobody could have known" that Wallace would be assigned that specific garage to hang a noose.
FBI: NOOSE FOUND IN BUBBA WALLACE'S NASCAR GARAGE WAS THERE SINCE 2019
On Tuesday, however, ESPN shared a clip from "Fistful of Steel" in a tweet that fueled the already debunked narrative.
"Last year, a noose was found in Bubba Wallace's stall at Talladega Superspeedway. The next day, the NASCAR community stood with him in unity," ESPN tweeted.
"I was like, 'Holy s---, it's the whole garage.' ... That's when I lost it," the tweet read quoting Wallace from an interview.
The dramatic clip, which was dominated with melodramatic music, also included interviews from NASCAR All-Star Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR President Steve Phelps and Wallace's mother, Desiree Wallace, marveling at the unity that occurred within the sport after the noose claim drew national attention.
The clip shared on Twitter made no mention that Wallace's claim was debunked.
Critics dragged ESPN for reviving the false narrative.
Bubba Wallace stands for the national anthem before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, June 14, 2020, in Homestead, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
"It wasn’t a noose tho…" Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross reacted.
"This is misinformation," National Review senior writer Dan McLaughlin declared.
"It was a pull rope that long predated Wallace's assignment to that garage. Pretending it was more than that is evil," Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon tweeted.
"Holy hell the lie continues! It was a door pull in his garage. Shame on @espn," Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich wrote.
"How do you do an entire special on something that everyone knows was an imaginary hate crime?" conservative writer A.G. Hamilton asked.
"It was a garage pull cord that had been there for months, you dishonest, race-baiting, race-hoaxing clowns," The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis bashed ESPN.
Others used ESPN's report about the FBI's investigation concluding Wallace's claim was false against the network with the headline, "FBI says rope had been in Talladega garage since October; Bubba Wallace not victim of hate crime."
ESPN did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
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