ESPN avoids on-air coverage of Golden State Warriors owner's Uyghur comments, other networks also ignore

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Golden State Warriors co-owner says ‘nobody cares’ about mistreatment of Uyghurs in China

Fox News contributor Will Cain blasts Silicon Valley billionaire for dismissing the ongoing human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party against the Muslim-minority Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang Province.

ESPN has largely turned blind eye to the growing controversy plaguing the Golden State Warriors over one of its owners' callous remarks about the imprisoned Uyghur Muslims in China. 

The Disney-owned network has not drawn any attention to Warriors part-owner Chamath Palihapitiya, who went viral on Monday when he claimed that "nobody cares" about the Chinese Communist Party-sponsored (CCP) genocide that has been recognized as such by several national governments.

CHAMATH PALIHAPITIYA, WARRIORS PART-OWNER AND VENTURE CAPITALIST, DISMISSES UYGHUR MUSLIMS’ RIGHTS ABUSES

"Let’s be honest: nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs, Okay?" Palihapitiya said on the "All-In Podcast", which was released over the weekend. "You bring it up because you care, and I think that it’s nice that you care, the rest of us don’t care." 

"I’m telling you a very hard ugly truth. Of all the things that I care about, yes, it is below my line, OK?" Palihapitiya added. 

Chamath Palihapitiya, founder and chief executive officer of Social Capital LP, listens during the Bloomberg Business of Equality conference in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, May 8, 2018. The conference brings together business, academic and political leaders as well as nonprofits and activists to discuss the future of equality, how we get there and what is at stake for the economy and society at-large. Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The comments have sparked intense backlash on social media, but the media has largely avoided covering the controversy, including the most-watched sports network in America. 

There has been no mention of the Warriors part-owner on ESPN. The sports brand's only acknowledgment of the story was an article published Tuesday afternoon about the NBA team's response to the comments on its website, which was regurgitated from the Associated Press. 

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"Embarrassing how @espn isn’t covering one of the Warriors owners saying he doesn’t care at all about Chinese genocide," Outkick founder Clay Travis tweeted Monday. "Clear and transparent protection of their TV partner. MSESPN gonna MSESPN, y’all."

"You often see agenda based "journalism" based not only on what is covered, but based on what isn’t covered as well. It’s not just @espn, however, watch how none of woke NBA media will ask players or coaches about it either. Total memory hole because it challenges SJW narrative," Travis added.

When reached for comment about its lack of coverage, a spokesperson for ESPN pointed to its regurgitated AP report as evidence of its coverage but did not specifically address the blackout of its coverage on-air. 

ESPN was far from the only network to avoid the dismissive comments about the oppressed Uyghurs. 

MSNBC, NBC, ABC and CBS offered zero on-air coverage to the Warriors controversy on Monday and Tuesday, according to Grabien transcripts. 

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CNN, meanwhile, spent less than five minutes on the subject on Tuesday after it was completely ignored by liberal network's primetime shows on Monday. 

All the networks' parent companies are heavily dependent on China, particularly for box office profits for studio-released. NBC, which will be airing the 2022 Winter Olympics next month taking place in Beijing, is a subsidiary of Comcast, which also owns Universal Pictures. ABC, like EPSN, is also owned by The Walt Disney Company. CBS is a sister company of Paramount Pictures, both owned by ViacomCBS. CNN has similar ties to Warner Bros. Pictures, both under the WarnerMedia umbrella. 

Chamath Palihapitiya, co-founder and chief executive officer of Social+Capital Partnership LLC, speaks during a Bloomberg Technology television interview at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Warriors attempted to distance themselves from Palihapitiya, issuing a vague statement reading, "As a limited investor who has no day-to-day operating functions with the Warriors, Mr. Palihapitiya does not speak on behalf of our franchise, and his views certainly don't reflect those of our organization."

Palihapitiya also issued a statement hoping to "clarify" his remarks, admitting what he said on the podcast came across as "lacking empathy."

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"As a refugee, my family fled a country with its own set of human rights issues so this is something that is very much a part of my lived experience," Palihapitiya wrote. "To be clear, my belief is that human rights matter, whether in China, the United States, or elsewhere. Full stop."

Critics continued to bash both Palihapitiya and the Warriors for failing to acknowledge the Uyghurs during the damage control of the original comments. 

Outkick and Fox News share common ownership.