LOSE WORK FOR A FOREHEAD INSULT, YET BEADLE IS FINE AFTER USING THE N-WORD

Broadcast executives apply unfair justice, and Jon Wertheim has lost his Tennis Channel job after mocking Barbora Krejcikova’s forehead while Michelle Beadle keeps her job after the ugliest of slips

     An “eighthead” is a massive, shiny forehead. Detractors use it to mock people, and in sillier versions of sports media, the term has been applied to hockey players and UFC combatants. Comedians have said worse, but Jon Wertheim is not a taunter or a comic. He happens to be one of the most talented people in my profession — writing books and articles about tennis and hosting segments on “60 Minutes.”

     On one program, he asked Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers if he was a frontman. The sarcasm was thick when he raved about Chad Smith as “one of today’s great drummers,” Flea for his “virtuosity on the bass” and John Frusciante as one of “rock’s greatest guitar heroes.”

     “What do you call yourself?’’ Wertheim asked.

     “What do — I don't call myself anything, really,” Kiedis said.

     Assuming he was off the air Friday during a Tennis Channel show, Wertheim decided to be a funnyman again. This time, he was shown a graphic of Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova. He should have ignored a raw camera angle that made her forehead look very large because, of course, he was on the air.

     “What do you think I am … erm Barbora Krejcikova. Look at the forehead when Krejicikova and Zheng take the court,” Wertheim said. “Eighthead.”

     The social media world slaughtered him. Never mind if Pete Davidson, Kevin Hart or Bill Burr would have earned laughs. Wertheim is a journalist and lost his job “indefinitely” with the network. A suspension made better sense, but the channel is in bed with the tour. Goodbye, Jon, and let’s see if CBS and Sports Illustrated don’t become part of the damage. Krejcikova railed on him for “unprofessional commentary,” sealing his fate.

     “This isn’t the first time something like this is happening in sports world,” she wrote. “I’ve often chosen not to speak up, but I believe it’s time to address the need for respect and professionalism in sports media. These moments distract from the true essence of sport and the dedication athletes bring to the field. I love tennis deeply, and I want to see it represented in a way that honors the commitment we make to compete at this level.”

     Wertheim tried to explain but realized he’ll be held accountable. “I made some deeply regrettable comments off-air. I acknowledge them. I apologize for them. I reached out immediately and apologized to the player,” he said. “What happened? I joined the show by Zoom. In rehearsal, we were shown a graphic of a player who had just competed. It showed her at an angle that exaggerated her forehead. A few moments later, I was told to frame up my Zoom. I looked at the low camera angle and joked that it made my forehead resemble the photo of the player in question. Someone in the control room chimed in and I bantered back. Though this was a private rehearsal, this exchange inadvertently — and without context — made it to live air.

     “I realize: I am not the victim here. It was neither professional nor charitable nor reflective of the person I strive to be. I am accountable. I own this. I am sorry.”

     As an eight-year veteran of daily programs on ESPN, I understand how disarranged comments might go public even when “Around The Horn” was taped. Yet we also live in a time when Shannon Sharpe has made atrocious errors, including a live-streamed sex tape, and kept his job on the same network. Last week, FanDuel TV’s Michelle Beadle rushed through a question about the Denver Nuggets and uttered, “Michael Porter Jr. recently said — aw, I don’t like this — that if the ni***as …’’

     Said Lou Williams, the former NBA player: “Beadle, you goin’ to be in trouble today.”

     “I’m sweating,” Chandler Parsons said.

     Beadle was not in trouble. FanDuel, the gambling site, referred to the episode as “a gaffe.” On Instagram, she wrote, “The moment you say ‘Nuggets’ incorrectly on television and your entire career flashes … while your co-hosts die. Broadcasting students: slow down. And enunciate.”

     Her career is fine after saying the worst word imaginable. Jon Wertheim’s career might be over because he said “eighthead.” The lesson isn’t about enunciation.

     It’s about reckless TV executives practicing unfair justice.

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.