Clay Travis is a conservative commentator and author known for his antagonism of the leftist culture on Twitter. He has been the subject of a great deal of criticism for his tweets, many of which have been considered racist and sexist. In this blog post, we will take a look at Clay Travis’ twitter controversies and timeline, starting with his firing from ESPN in December 2017. We will explore what caused the controversy and how it unfolded on Twitter.
July 18, 2017 – Clay Travis tweets about Sandra Fluke
On July 18, 2017, conservative commentator and Fox Sports Radio host Clay Travis tweeted about Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke:
“I hope @sandrarafluke gets raped by the DNC. Just think how much easier her life will be then.”
The tweet was met with backlash, and on July 19, Travis issued an apology on his Twitter account. He later deleted the tweet.
In a statement to CNN, Travis said that his Comments were “met with a barrage of online hate” and that he “made a bad joke that I regret.” Georgetown University released a statement condemning the message and saying that it does not condone violence or sexual assault.
July 22, 2017 – Clay Travis tweets aboutAlisha Fields
On July 22nd, 2017, Clay Travis tweeted about actress and singer Alisha Fields. In the tweet, Travis accused Fields of sexual assault. The tweet sparked a backlash from many Twitter users, who accused Travis of being a liar and spreading false information.
Travis initially defended his tweets in an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. However, he later deleted those statements and issued an apology on Twitter. He said that he had made up the allegations about Fields in order to spar with a friend online.
Here is a timeline of Clay Travis’ Twitter controversies:
July 22nd, 2017 – Clay Travis tweets about Alisha Fields
The tweet accuses Fields of sexual assault and sparked backlash online
July 24, 2017 – Clay Travis tweets about Joy Behar
On July 24, 2017, conservative commentator Clay Travis tweeted about Joy Behar: “I’m not a big fan of Joy Behar but she’s actually a good person. I just don’t like that she’s on TV.” Days later, on July 27, 2017, Behar responded to Travis’ tweet by saying “Clay Travis is a load of crap. He just wants to be famous and make fun of people. He’s still new on Twitter so he doesn’t know any better.”
This tweet sparked criticism from many people on social media who accused both Travis and Behar of being homophobic and offensive. Later that day, ABC announced that it had cancelled its contract with the conservative commentator.
October 12, 2017 – ESPN suspends Clay Travis
On October 12, ESPN suspended Clay Travis after he made public remarks related to a discrimination lawsuit filed against the network.
In a series of tweets over the weekend, Travis argued that ESPN should not have hired former Michigan basketball coach John Beilein because of his race. He later deleted those tweets and issued an apology.
In another tweet, Travis said that “racial reconciliation is self-defeating” and accused black people of only wanting government help.
ESPN released a statement saying that they had suspended Travis “due to his recent posts on Twitter which are inconsistent with our values.” They added that they are “looking into the matter.”
Travis has been outspoken about his opinions in the past, often drawing criticism from those who feel that he crosses a line. In February 2017, he was fired from his position as co-host of Fox Sports 1’s The Ultimate Fighter: Live show after making comments on social media about women in the sportswear industry.
