Media personalities slam Dana White getting away scot-free after slapping wife amid ESPN's silence
Multiple media personalities have been reacting to Dana White's UFC Vegas 67 press conference, where he claimed the punishment for slapping his wife is having to walk around knowing he did it.
Last week, TMZ released a video of White celebrating New Year's Eve with his wife Anne and friends in a resort in Cabo, New Mexico. The clip shows the 53-year-old drinking and talking to his wife before she slaps him across the face. White immediately slaps her back, and the pair are separated by their friends.
UFC president Dana White slaps his wife at a club during a New Years Eve party.
#UFC #MMA #ConorMcGregor https://t.co/qGiyxUiZO3
Dana White apologized shortly after the footage was released and claimed there was no excuse for his actions. Despite the shocking nature of the video, it so far appears as though the UFC president will face no consequences other than it being public knowledge.
Figures in the MMA industry have been reacting to the incident and White's recent comments, with many upset that he has seemingly decided on his own punishment.
Award-winning MMA journalist John Morgan wrote on Twitter:
"Dana f-cked up. Plain and simple. No excuses whatsoever for behaviour, which he admitted. I'm not in the mind that means he needs to step down as UFC president, but clearly he was in the wrong here, and I hope his family is able to move forward and this does not become a pattern."
@redcarddads @NoLayUpRule Dana f-cked up. Plain and simple. No excuses whatsoever for behavior, which he admitted. I'm not of the mind that means he needs to step down as UFC president, but clearly he was in the wrong here, and I hope his family is able to move forward and this does not become a pattern.
Journalist Ariel Helwani penned a stern message to White:
"Regret isn’t a punishment. It’s a consequence. Big difference."
Journalist and Muay Thai fighter Karren Attiah wrote:
"It is WILD to me that the head of a major sports organization was captured on camera hitting his wife, admitted to it, and almost nobody is talking about it."
It is WILD to me that the head of a major sports organization was captured on camera hitting his wife, admitted to it, and almost nobody is talking about it.
#DanaWhite
Check out more reactions from media personalities below:
It is difficult to imagine a commissioner for a major sports league such as the NBA or NFL striking their partner without facing significant consequences. Yet Dana White slapping his wife is business as usual for the UFC
theguardian.com/sport/2023/jan…
Dana White’s sham of a presser was a CEO of a corporate colossus saying being labeled a man who hits a woman for the rest of his life is penance enough, and that his beloved UFC would suffer financially if he had to step away at all. No talk of counseling, DV donation, nothing.
The reason @danawhite isn’t experiencing the same kind of backlash as Ray Rice and other men caught on camera smacking a woman is because multiple media entities and their opining employees have enormous conflict-of-interest deals with the UFC. They’re afraid of losing $$$$$.
We've been told to not write anything incendiary on social media about the Dana White situation, and I understand why and have abided by that. I just ask y'all to understand that some of us at ESPN do not have as soft a take as this on domestic violence. twitter.com/awfulannouncin…
Powerful stuff from Luke Thomas.
#MorningKombat w/ @lthomasnews & @BCampbell is LIVE: youtu.be/YonMJFcR_GM https://t.co/Yq5wMWRr1t
This Dana White situation is worthy of your outrage. It got mine 🤬. https://t.co/r12hkLCsX0
.@ESPN interviewed rabbis and former NBA players for weeks in response to Kyrie Irving sharing the link to a video.
It won’t interview domestic violence experts about Dana White slapping his wife and has instructed employees not to write anything negative.
Sounds about white. https://t.co/FDCMuvKLre
*If you punish me you're actually punishing others and not me* is an unpersuasive, manipulative argument.
Again, I've not called for White's job, but defending the idea of keeping it because other employees would be the REAL victims implies a debatable level of biz necessity. twitter.com/aaronbronstete…
There are any number of situations where businesses or courts will penalize someone for misconduct even if it leads to deleterious outcomes for others (including minors). That's not counting whether it's even true UFC employees would be harmed by his absence.
I GUARANTEE if any active NBA/NFL player was caught on camera doing this they’d be suspended, lose every single sponsor, and a twitter cancel campaign would be in overdrive. RIGHTFULLY SO! So why is Dana White exempt from the same consequences??? Where’s the media outrage??? twitter.com/andreashale/st…
Dana White isn’t making excuses for slapping his wife because so many other people are doing it for my him. My latest column for @TheAtlantic theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
The amount of people continuing to bend over backward to defend Dana White when the man himself repeatedly said not to defend him. It'd be disappointing if it wasn't so damn unsurprising.
Dana White confirms he won't step down as UFC president
Dana White faced the media for the first time this week since the NYE incident where he slapped his wife. During the presser, the 53-year-old confirmed that he had no intention of stepping down as president of the UFC.
White once again apologized for his actions and claimed that his punishment is knowing what he did and having to deal with that fact. The American also stated that he didn't believe removing himself from his position was the right decision as it would be detrimental to the employees, fighters, and the UFC itself:
"What should the repercussions be? I take 30 days off? How does that hurt me? I told you guys, as we were going through [COVID-19 pandemic], COVID could last 10 years, and I could sit it out. It's much like COVID, actually. Me leaving hurts the company. Hurts my employees. Hurts the fighters. Doesn't hurt me."
White added:
"Here's my punishment... I have to walk around for however long I live, and this is how I'm labeled now. My other punishment is that I'm sure a lot of people, whether it be the media, fighters, friends, acquaintances, who had respect for me might not have respect for me now."
Catch Dana White speaking here:
Dana White says the only punishment that will come from slapping his wife will be in the public eye.
"This is how I'm labeled now."
Full interview: bit.ly/3kbJTSZ https://t.co/F2svIyEHAu