ABC and CBS appeared to have benched NBA superstar LeBron James as the networks avoided his viral controversy on their morning and evening news programs.
Bodycam footage released by the Columbus Police Department late Tuesday showed 16-year-old Black teenager Ma’Khia Bryant being shot by an officer as she was attacking another teen with a knife.
TWITTER REFUSES TO SAY WHETHER LEBRON JAMES ‘YOU’RE NEXT’ TWEET VIOLATED POLICY SINCE IT WAS DELETED
Like many other public figures, the Los Angeles Lakers player suggested that the Columbus shooting was unjustified on the heels of the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd.
“YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY,” James wrote on Wednesday with an hourglass emoji over an image of one of the officers at the scene of Bryant’s shooting.
BEIJING, CHINA – SEPTEMBER 04: NBA star LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers meets fans at a Nike store on September 4, 2017 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images)
James was blasted by critics who accused him of inciting violence against the police officer to his nearly 50 million Twitter followers.
Apparently, though, the swift backlash was not newsworthy enough for ABC and CBS as there was no mention of the controversy on “Good Morning America” and “CBS This Morning” as well as “World News Tonight” and “CBS Evening News” from Wednesday thru Friday, according to Grabien transcripts.
LEBRON JAMES ACCUSED OF INCITING VIOLENCE WITH ‘YOU’RE NEXT’ TWEET TARGETING COLUMBUS POLICE OFFICER
ABC News’ only on-air mention of the controversy was on “The View” after co-host Meghan McCain briefly knocked the athlete.
NBC News didn’t fare much better, dedicating only 11 seconds to James’ tweet on both “Today” and “NBC Nightly News” as part of their reports on the Ma’Khia Bryant shooting.
James ultimately deleted the tweet amid the backlash and returned to Twitter to explain the controversial post.
“ANGER does [sic] any of us any good and that includes myself!” James tweeted. “Gathering all the facts and educating does though! My anger still is here for what happened [to] that lil girl. My sympathy for her family and may justice prevail!”
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He added, “I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police. I took the tweet down because its being used to create more hate -This isn’t about one officer. it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY.”