ESPN’s decision to honor transgender Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner with its Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPYs was one of the more controversial choices the company made under president John Skipper.
But despite all the criticism he faced for that award and Jenner’s own evolution into a reactionary political figure, Skipper does not regret his choice.
In an interview on the Mixed Signals podcast released Friday , Skipper said he is “still proud of the gesture” of honoring Jenner in 2015, the former triathlete and reality television star who came out as a transgender woman that year.
“I did agree to give Caitlyn Jenner the Arthur Ashe Award, which was not universally popular,” Skipper said. “I’m still proud of the gesture while not particularly admiring the recipient.”
At that time, figures like Colin Kaepernick and Donald Trump ratcheted the temperature of American politics up significantly. ESPN struggled to keep its talent from discussing politics and social issues on air and on social media . The network punished personalities like Colin Cowherd, Curt Schilling, Jemele Hill, and Dan Le Batard for crossing a line discussing race and social issues.
So when ESPN gave Jenner the Ashe Award, its usual critics, including Clay Travis and Jason Whitlock came down hard. At the same time, given how new the conversation around the transgender community was even a decade ago, honoring Jenner was contentious across the political divide.
Even Bob Costas criticized ESPN at the time .
“It strikes me that awarding the Arthur Ashe award to Caitlyn Jenner is just a crass exploitation play — it’s a tabloid play,” Costas said. “In the broad world of sports, I’m pretty sure they could’ve found someone — and this is not anything against Caitlyn Jenner — who was much closer actively involved in sports, who would’ve been deserving of what that award represents.
“That’s not to say it doesn’t take some measure of personal courage to do what Caitlyn Jenner has done.”
ESPYs producer Maura Mandt defended the company’s decision by stating, “[This] is what the Arthur Ashe Courage Award is about: somebody from the athletic community who has done something that transcends sport.”
In the interview with Semafor Media this week, Skipper explained why he stands behind the award. In his mind, the idea that honoring Jenner was too political or polarizing is hypocritical coming from people who support, for instance, the NFL’s ties to the military or patriotism.
“The idea that sports can be a complete separation from the rest of life and society is silly. It matters,” Skipper said. “The only thing people are complaining about is when you bring issues into sports that I disagree with. ‘I don’t want to see any of this shit in sports, because it offends me.’ By the way, they don’t want to see any of it in entertainment, they don’t want to see any of it in their local library … they just don’t want to see what they don’t want to see. We’ve become so polarized, not that people have views along a continuum.”
The Ashe award is given annually at the ESPYs to sports figures who demonstrate a “ willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost .” Other recent recipients include retired WNBA star and police reform advocate Maya Moore and out gay former NFL player Michael Sam.
Of course, Skipper emphasized that he does not agree with Jenner’s current worldview.
When she accepted the award, Jenner struck an empathetic tone toward young trans people, saying “Trans people deserve something vital, they deserve your respect,” while drawing attention to rates of violence toward the community.
During a run for governor of California in 2021, Jenner came out against transgender women participating in women’s sports. She spent a portion of the campaign in Australia and received just 1 percent of the vote .
It’s no secret that Skipper is left-leaning politically, but it’s still intriguing to hear the former ESPN president stand by a decision around which the conversation has fluctuated dramatically in recent years.
[ Mixed Signals Podcast ]
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