ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski to Missouri Senator Josh Hawley: "F*ck You"

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has gone from dropping Woj-bombs to F-bombs.

In response to Missouri Senator Josh Hawley sending an email to the NBA which Wojnarowski also received questioning the league’s relationship with China, the veteran reporter had a two-word response: “Fuck you.”

Don’t criticize #China or express support for law enforcement to @espn. It makes them real mad ⁦@Outkick⁩ pic.twitter.com/WJDxrotUBD

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 10, 2020

This is the full letter Hawley sent to the NBA that drew Wojnarowski’s ire.

If @NBA is going to put social cause statements on uniforms, why not “Support our Troops” or “Back the Blue”? Or given how much $$ @nba makes in #China, how about “Free Hong Kong”! Today I wrote to Adam Silver to ask for answers pic.twitter.com/PthYR4OxmE

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 10, 2020

It appears that Hawley’s screenshot is legitimate as an ESPN spokesperson confirmed The Worldwide Leader is looking into the matter.

I asked ESPN about the Woj/Hawley email. Spokesman said it appears to be real and ESPN is looking into it.

— Ben Strauss (@benjstrauss) July 10, 2020

Hawley also tweeted about the incident again after ESPN’s PR department publicly berated Wojnarowski for writing what he did to the senator.

Don’t make @wojespn apologize. He’s just saying what he really thinks. Call out the @NBA. You know, your job https://t.co/qLX5VsdO6R

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 10, 2020

Wojnarowski, ESPN’s leading NBA reporter, will likely face some sort of discipline for his response.

Though cursing at the senator in a personal email doesn’t technically violate the network’s official policy on mixing politics with social media, Hawley making the response public will not work in Wojnarowski’s favor.

For reference, the official ESPN social-media policy states: “Communication with producers and editors must take place prior to commentary on any political or social issues.”

It is possible the network has a similar policy for emails. If that’s the case, Wojnarowski may force some sort of punishment or suspension, but it seems highly unlikely he’s in any danger of losing his job.

Update: Wojnarowski has tweeted out an apology, writing, “I was disrespectful and I made a regrettable mistake. I’m sorry for the way I handled myself and I am reaching out immediately to Senator Hawley to apologize directly. I also need to apologize to my ESPN colleagues because I know my actions were unacceptable and should not reflect on any of them.”