BBC apologizes for insensitive comments about Wimbledon champ
Hoisting your first Grand Slam trophy is what every professional tennis player dreams about. John Inverdale tarnished that moment for Marion Bartoli of France.
Stories that would have otherwise focused solely on Bartoli’s straight-set victory over Sabine Lisicki instead included details of BBC presenter John Inverdale’s insensitive comments.
He said during the broadcast:
“Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little: ‘You’re never going to be a looker? You’ll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight’?”
Twitter exploded with angry tennis fans who took offense to the comments. Deadspin‘s Sam Eifling took Inverdale to task for the comments:
Inverdale did the common jackasses one better, though. His didn’t just poke fun at — nicely!— a woman’s appearance before a world audience. He also pinned this hypothetical motivator on her father.
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