By Jos Truitt • @jostruitt • 13 years ago

ESPN announcer pulled from broadcast after calling female coworker “sweetcakes”

headshots of Ron Franklin and Roger Sterling
Someone’s been watching too much Mad Men

Via The Frisky comes word that ESPN football announcer Ron Franklin was pulled from Saturday’s radio broadcast of the Fiesta Bowl after calling sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards “sweetcakes” in a meeting.

Yeah, seriously, “sweetcakes.” Ron Franklin likes his sexism old school.

The insult came after Edwards tried to join a conversation Franklin was having with another announcer. From the blog sportsbybrooks.com:

When [Edwards tried to join the conversation], Franklin said to her, “Why don’t you leave this to the boys, sweetcakes.”

Edwards responded to Franklin by saying, “don’t call me sweetcakes, I don’t like being talked to like that.”

When Edwards called Franklin out on his language he responded, “Okay then, asshole.” Because he is so very clever.

Apparently Franklin has a history of demeaning female colleagues. In 2005 he called sideline reporter Holly Rowe “sweetheart” while trying to undermine her commentary.

I’m glad to see a sports network respond to sexism in the workplace, especially sexist comments that didn’t actually make it on air. And I’m curious to see how serious the penalty against Franklin will be. Will he just be kept off one radio broadcast, or will he face a harsher penalty for apparently thinking he works in the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce?

Boston, MA

Jos Truitt is Executive Director of Development at Feministing. She joined the team in July 2009, became an Editor in August 2011, and Executive Director in September 2013. She writes about a range of topics including transgender issues, abortion access, and media representation. Jos first got involved with organizing when she led a walk out against the Iraq war at her high school, the Boston Arts Academy. She was introduced to the reproductive justice movement while at Hampshire College, where she organized the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program’s annual reproductive justice conference. She has worked on the National Abortion Federation’s hotline, was a Field Organizer at Choice USA, and has volunteered as a Pro-Choice Clinic Escort. Jos has written for publications including The Guardian, Bilerico, RH Reality Check, Metro Weekly, and the Columbia Journalism Review. She has spoken and trained at numerous national conferences and college campuses about trans issues, reproductive justice, blogging, feminism, and grassroots organizing. Jos completed her MFA in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in Spring 2013. In her "spare time" she likes to bake and work on projects about mermaids.

Jos Truitt is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Development.

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