ESPN has suspended Bill Simmons‘ use of Twitter after the Sports Guy used the social networking site to blast ESPN partner radio station WEEI in Boston. The Huffington Post has screencaps of the tweets where Simmons refers to WEEI hosts as washed up athletes, fat, and deceitful scumbags.
ESPN.com editor-in-chief Rob King had this to say about the suspension:
We have internal guidelines designed to inform how we discuss the topic of sports media. These guidelines are important us, because they help maintain the credibility with which ESPN operates.
No one knows the guidelines better than Bill Simmons, and he customarily works within these standards. He also understands, as does everyone else at ESPN, that we regard these guidelines as being equally important when participating in social media.
While it’s unfortunate — and sometimes painful — that not everyone outside of ESPN chooses to play by such rules, we choose to hold ourselves to higher standards. Regardless of the provocation, Bill’s communication regarding WEEI fell short of those standards. So we’ve taken appropriate measures.
OMG. No tweeting for two weeks for calling out some fat scumbags in Boston.. Is Simmons still allowed to use Facebook and text message? I hope he at least gets to keep his Xbox and go to the big dance this weekend.
