YIKES. Charles Barkley told a reporter, “I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you,” after the fact, he said it was a joke. Here is her side of the story as she put on Twitter.
This isn’t the first time that Charles Barkley has said something sexist. There’s a famous quote from 1990 reported by the Los Angeles Times here:
Barkley, who said the remarks were meant as a joke, was quoted as saying after a tough Nov. 3 win over the underdog New Jersey Nets that “this is a game that if you lose, you go home and beat your wife and kids. Did you see my wife jumping up and down at the end of the game? That’s because she knew I wasn’t going to beat her.”
So, obviously, comments like this from Barkley are not out of character for him. He has continually pushed the line for political correctness as a commentator in the NBA. It didn’t take long for Barkley to apologize, as he did the next morning. I’m not excusing him here, it was an inappropriate thing to say, and just not something you say to a professional. Of course, if it was one of his friends and someone that has a bad sense of humor, this might have been okay as long as both knew that Charles Barkley was joking. Barkley tried to pass it off as a joke after he said it as Alexi McCammond reported. But just inexcusable actions from Barkley. Sure, it was late at night and he might have been drinking, but it’s just something you do not say to a person that you don’t know like that. It will be interesting to see what is to come as far as punishment or backlash for Barkley, but I doubt anything will change for his comments.
