It occurred early in CBS’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. As host Greg Gumbel introduced Doug Gottlieb to the studio joining Greg Anthony, Charles Barkley and Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Gottlieb tried to make a diversity joke and it backfired.
You can clearly see Anthony, Barkley and Smith glaring at Gottlieb and forcing laughter. It did catch them off-guard. And while I don’t believe Gottlieb meant anything malicious towards the four African-American men on the set, the joke sank like a 500 pound boulder in water. Had Gottlieb been more likable, he might have gotten some laughs.
For its part, CBS has issued a statement from Gottlieb:
“It was not a smart thing to say and I apologize.”
Barkley did come to Gottlieb’s defense later in the evening on TBS, but that was after reaction went negative to the comments.
Former ESPN colleague Mark May called for Gottlieb to be fired, but I don’t think CBS needs to go that far.
After Doug Gottlieb’s ignorant comment on CBS he should be canned
— Mark May (@mark_may) March 29, 2013
Certainly an interesting start to the second week of the NCAA Tournament and one in which CBS would probably want a mulligan.
