On Friday afternoon, CNN had Fox Sports Radio personality and dogged ESPN antagonist Clay Travis on air to talk about the controversy surrounding ESPN, Jemele Hill and Donald Trump.
The segment did not last as long as planned, however. Moments into the discussion, Travis declared that, “I believe in only two things completely: the first amendment and boobs,” prompting host Brooke Baldwin to pause the conversation and ask him to clarify. Travis reiterated that, yes, he believed very strongly in boobs, and the segment moved on. But Baldwin could not simply let the boob comment pass, and before long she, Travis and fellow guest Keith Reed were going back and forth about whether it is appropriate to talk about boobs live on national television. The segment reached peak absurdity when Travis interrupted Reed to ask, “You don’t love boobs, too?”
Eventually, Baldwin had had enough, cutting in to announce that Travis’ appearance was over.
Once Travis and Reed were gone, Baldwin declared that, “That was entirely inappropriate,” before apologizing for not cutting Travis’ microphone quicker.
Minutes later, Baldwin tweeted her bewilderment at Travis’ comments.
That was… I just… it was one of those thought bubbles "did he actually say that on MY SHOW?!" Note to men — that is never okay. #smh
— Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBaldwin) September 15, 2017
Of all the things you might have expected to get Travis kicked off of TV, it was boobs that ultimately did him in.
Though Travis was booted from CNN, the appearance was a victory for him, in a way. Moments after the segment ended, Travis was trending on Twitter, bringing him the exact kind of exposure he was looking for.
About Alex Putterman
Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.