https://youtu.be/yNZP9KYVOgU
A couple of weeks ago at the Super Bowl FOX Sports Julie Stewart-Binks asked GRONK for some Magic Mike action and got a lap dance for her troubles.
She didn’t have a problem with it, others specifically a lot of women in the media had a big problem with it.
Fast Forward to today and ESPNW’s Sarah Spain is back from a few days on the GRONK’s Party Boat and Binks is not pleased at what she perceives to be a double standard.
3 weeks ago you publicly ridicule me- now, you glorify your Gronk-boating. Wanna talk double standards? Let's go. https://t.co/4p8pJeJW7b
— Julie Stewart-Binks (@JSB_TV) February 25, 2016
Spain defended her story which essentially is saying that it was harmless drunken fun with the following tweets.
Wait wait wait. First, I never ridiculed. I said I didn't think dance was a good idea as part of a larger discussion https://t.co/a0CNk8s4Oh
— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) February 25, 2016
2nd, did you read the post or listen to any radio about how Gronk Boat was harmless fun? The 2 things are unrelated. https://t.co/a0CNk8s4Oh
— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) February 25, 2016
I'm not sure where this is coming from, but I don't do fabricated Twitter fights to "go viral." Have a good night. https://t.co/a0CNk8s4Oh
— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) February 25, 2016
Who is right and who is wrong?
Depends on your point of view. When it comes to GRONK there is always a double standard. I didn’t see anyone from ESPN calling LeSean McCoy’s all IG Model party just harmless fun. I know it is cliche, but it is true, if Cam Newton had a party boat, I am 100% sure the coverage would be different.
Double standards in media exist, sometimes there are racial elements to it and other times it is just about who they like more. Just think how long it took for anyone to address that Ronda Rousey was a domestic abuser and dating a married man who might have abused his now ex-wife. Even now Rousey is treated with kid gloves. Peyton Manning is being protected by a lot of powerful WHITE MEN in media (who makes up 90% of sports media? white males).
I think it is fair that Stewart-Binks stands up for herself because some not so subtle accusations were made about her that weren’t very nice.
There is one thing that I think Spain might have missed (I would hope she didn’t ignored) in her article.
From what I’ve read and heard since returning to shore, the narrative about the Gronk Boat seems to have been built entirely by people who weren’t on it. Everybody from media hoping to expose some sort of wrongdoing by a famous NFL player to everyday people “concern trolling” over their imagined treatment of women on the boat. One tweeter said it was hypocritical for me to be a feminist and go on the Gronk Boat. Others asked why “any woman” would ever want to go on the trip.
GRONK indeed offered a man $10k to have sex with a woman in front of everyone. I am pretty sure that is a little more egregious than lap dancing on a reporter at Super Bowl, but that isn’t mentioned in Spain’s piece. There are also other things that a quick search of Twitter would show that some would consider a little outside the realm of just harmless bros having fun.
I don’t care if GRONK lap dances on reporters or if ESPN pays for their reporters to party with him on cruise ships. My only concern is that the story would be covered the same regardless if it was GRONK or another athlete. I can’t confidently say that would be the case.
Who knew that GRONK being GRONK could cause so much divisiveness in media?