UFC President Dana White entangled his own company in the cancellation controversy of Gina Carano.
White was asked about Carano, the MMA fighter who became an actress, on Saturday night after UFC 258.
“Leave it alone. We make mistakes, we all make mistakes,” said White. “For everyone to participate in it … I love how Ariel Helwani did everything about him, an idiot.”
Carano was recently fired from Disney’s “The Mandalorian” after a series of bizarre social media publications, including one in which she compared today’s political climate with the Nazi era.
“Jews were beaten on the streets, not by Nazi soldiers, but by their neighbors…. even for children, ”she wrote on Instagram with an image of Nazi Germany.
“As the story gets edited, most people today don’t realize that, to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily arrest thousands of Jews, the government first caused its own neighbors to hate them simply because they were Jews.”
Helwani is a great UFC reporter and is Jewish. He posted a video over the weekend where he shared his thoughts on Carano.
“Obviously, I am very disappointed with what she posted. To be honest, I didn’t agree with many of the things she posted last year, ”said Helwani, who heads ESPN’s MMA coverage, in part. “This last post, essentially comparing being a Republican in America, or having a certain political outlook, to being a Jew in Nazi Germany during World War II is stupid. It is an absolutely crazy comparison to make and it is completely insensitive to think that Jews and other minorities too, not just Jews, but in this particular post the Jews were discussed, had to hide in attics and gutters and had to be separated from their families and murdered six million of them.
“Umm … comparing this to what is happening in this country is just a very deaf analogy to make, to say the least. Now I’m not one, I’m not at all in the culture of cancellation and all that. I’m not here to talk about someone’s job or anything. I heard about the comment. The statement. The analogy.
“As a Jew, and as a human being, it just doesn’t go well. And I wish she never posted that. And frankly, I wish someone had talked to her about her social media posts last year. Some of them are not even politicians. In general, they seemed strange to me. I’m sorry that she followed that path. “
Carano fought for Strikeforce and EliteXC, winning a 7-1 record between 2006 and 2009 before turning his attention to acting.
White and Helwani have a tumultuous history. White briefly suspended the reporter in 2016 for news that Brock Lesnar was returning to the sport. White had Helwani escorted out of UFC 199 for reporting that information and then claimed that he was banned forever before terminating this after two days.
When contacted by reporters, ESPN chose not to comment on the situation or defend one of its most prominent reporters. Helwani’s colleagues, both from ESPN and the UFC community, expressed their support for him.
ESPN and UFC are in the middle of a five-year, $ 1.5 billion rights partnership that began in 2019.
Carano promised to resume his career, apparently with the controversial Daily Wire website.
“They can’t cancel us if we don’t allow it,” Carano told the channel. “The Daily Wire is helping to fulfill one of my dreams – to develop and produce my own film. I screamed and my prayer was answered. I am sending a direct message of hope to everyone who lives in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian crowd. “