Charles Barkley is known for pushing the envelope with his unapologetic style, and that is the main reason his time as a broadcast analyst has been arguably more successful than his playing career. It also gets him into trouble on occasion.
Alexi McCammond, a reporter for Axios, took to Twitter on Tuesday night to reveal that Barkley made what he called a “joke” to her about wanting to assault her. She said the remark came in response to her pointing out inconsistencies with Barkley’s political endorsements.
Just FYI Charles Barkley told me tonight “I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you,” and then when I objected to that he told me I “couldn’t take a joke.”
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
There are almost no times I will beak an OTR “agreement” but this is not OK. And it was all because he came in talking about how he loves Deval Patrick and once someone from Pete‘s campaign came around he said he loved Pete and I reminded him he previously said he was a Deval fan
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
I hate being part of a story so here’s a reminder that this is so much bigger than me: nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the US. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence https://t.co/eqgn0McbYt https://t.co/nll7a0rv2o
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
I encourage you to consider how you’d respond if a friend said something similar to what Barkley said tonight. And then challenge yourself to ask the same of yourself if a stranger (or “celebrity”) said that. I hope the answers are the same. Everyone should be held accountable.
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
Barkley obviously had no intention of hitting McCammond, but the reporter wasn’t the only one who didn’t see the humor in his comment. Many people began unloading on the Hall of Famer and pointing out that he has made inappropriate quips about domestic violence in the past in addition to providing sexist commentary.
For those unaware, Barkley also once said this (and later claimed to be joking then too), so he’s got form on this front. Disgraceful. https://t.co/3P5gwW2aZ9 pic.twitter.com/onmlmTLnJT
— Steve Smith (@stevesmithffx) November 20, 2019
Barkley has a little bit of a history of this kind of stuff. In 1997, Barkley said on female referees, "I just hope they don’t have women officials. It’s the principle of the thing. I wouldn’t want a man doing a W.N.B.A. game." https://t.co/rm3fwo0H58
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) November 20, 2019
These are the reasons Barkley is a polarizing figure who drives ratings. On one side you have people who will laugh at what he said to McCammond, and on the other there are people who are outraged. Barkley has shown in the past with remarks like the ones he made about the women of San Antonio that he is unafraid of ruffling feathers. Although when he crosses the line, he does apologize like he did on Wednesday:
Statement on behalf of Charles Barkley in response to tweet by Axios reporter Alexi McCammond:
“My comment was inappropriate and unacceptable. It was an attempted joke that wasn’t funny at all. There’s no excuse for it and I apologize.”
— TurnerSportsPR (@TurnerSportsPR) November 20, 2019
