ESPN is accused of firing NFL Countdown host Sam Ponder over her criticism of trans women in sports and Olympic boxer Imane Khelif.
‘So ESPN fires @samponder, the only woman at the network who [has] publicly said men don’t belong in women’s sports 3 weeks before football season?’ former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines wrote on X, echoing comments from many others.
‘Pathetic… The woke media just got woker,’ one person responded. ‘It’s why ESPN is failing.’
The 38-year-old Ponder is being released two years into her three-year, $3 million deal, but will receive her full salary, DailyMail.com has learned. Furthermore, the timing of the decision was dictated by the approaching end of the fiscal year on September 30, a source told DailyMail.com.
Ponder recently posted a comment on X about the gender controversy surrounding Khelif, a women’s boxer accused of having XY chromosomes.
‘XY= male XX= female,’ Ponder wrote.
ESPN is accused of firing Sam Ponder over her criticism of trans women in sports
Riley Gaines suggested that Ponder was fired over her opinion on trans women in sports
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Curiously, Ponder is being released by ESPN at the same time as NFL analyst Robert Griffin III, who took an opposing stance on this exact issue.
‘Imane Khelif is a biological woman and if you want to protect our daughters, you should protect her,’ Griffin wrote on X about Khelif, who won gold at the Paris Olympics. ‘If you don’t do the research to find the truth, then we should be protected from you.’
Griffin’s dismissal led to similar suspicions that ESPN fired him over his opinion on Khelif.
‘Did ESPN fire RG3 for this piece on Imane Khelif?’ asked journalist Chuck Modi on X. ‘Or something else?’
Ponder wasn’t the only ESPN personality to question the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow Khelif to compete as a woman.
Long-time college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit was asked on X if ‘men belong in women’s sports,’ to which he replied: ‘Of course not. Ridiculous question.’
Herbstreit has not been fired or publicly reprimanded by the network over the comment, which Ponder applauded online.
ESPN did not fir Herbstreit, whose comments about trans women in sports were applauded by Ponder during an exchange on social media earlier this month
Like Ponder, Griffin (pictured) was fired by ESPN while making around $1 million annually
Griffin voiced an opposing opinion from Ponder’s about Khelif before he was fired by ESPN
Ponder is married to ex-Vikings QB Christian Ponder (pictured). The couple has three children
A graduate of Liberty University, Ponder previously worked at Fox Sports before ESPN
Riley Gaines testifies during a House Oversight Subcommittee
Riley Gaines testifies during a House Oversight Subcommittee hearing on trans women
Ponder has not spoken publicly about her dismissal.
ESPN declined to speak about Ponder or Griffin’s departure when contacted by DailyMail.com.
Ponder previously weighed in on the issue in May of 2023 on social media.
Responding to a social media post by Gaines, Ponder wrote: ‘I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl msg me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories abt girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful.
An outspoken Christian and Liberty University graduate, Ponder is the wife of former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder. The couple has three children.
Gaines, meanwhile, is a former University of Kentucky swimmer who has been a critic of trans women in sports since tying trans swimmer Lia Thomas for fifth in the 200-meter freestyle final at the 2022 NCAA Championships.