ESPN suspended tv commentator Tony Kornheiser
after he called SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm's
red outfit and go-go boots 'horrifying.' (Photos/ESPN, AP)
ESPN commentator Tony Kornheiser has been suspended for two weeks for insulting SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm's racy red outfit.
Last week, Kornheiser, 61, insinuated that Storm, 47, was too old to wear the flashy red go-go boots and short skirt she sported on a recent telecast.
'SHE DRESSES TOO YOUNG'
Tony, who hosts ESPN's Pardon the Interruption program, made the following comments on his Washington-based radio show:
"Hannah Storm in a horrifying, horrifying outfit today. She's got on red go-go boots and a catholic school plaid skirt ... way too short for somebody in her 40s or maybe early 50s.
She's got on her typically very, very tight shirt. She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body.
I know she's very good, and I'm not supposed to be critical of ESPN people, so I won't ... but Hannah Storm ... come on now! Stop! What are you doing?
She's what I would call a Holden Caulfield fantasy at this point."
The next day, Kornheiser issued the following apology: .jpg)
"I was wrong. This is sort of what I do, and I'm sorry for it. I'm a sarcastic, subversive guy...I'm a troll, look at me. I have no right to insult what anybody looks like or what anybody wears."
On Feb. 23, Tony told reporters he's looking forward to returning to his show after his suspension.
"I have been sent to sidelines from PTI for a while," he says. "And when I'm allowed back on PTI, I will happily go back because I love the PTI show and love all the people on the PTI show."
Kornheiser has hosted PTI since 2001.
ESPN CALLS COMMENTS 'ENTIRELY INAPPROPRIATE'
ESPN executive vice president of content John Skipper issued the following statement Tuesday evening:
"Tony Kornheiser's comments about Hannah Storm were entirely inappropriate. Hurtful and personal comments such as these are not acceptable and have significant consequences. 
Tony has been suspended from PTI for two weeks. Hannah is a respected colleague who has been an integral part of the success of our morning SportsCenter."
HANNAH LIKES TO FLAUNT HER FIGURE
The athletic 5'10" Hannah is extremely fit and loves to flaunt her lean physique.
In 2008, she blogged about her personal style, saying she likes wearing short skirts, dresses and boots:
"My preference is fitted and feminine clothes and I am really happy with my style now because it's much more reflective of my personality and a lot more fun, rather than being so anchor-ish!
Cowboy boots are my favorite..I like them pretty beat up and distressed and wear them with everything from short dresses to jeans."
Storm added: "I think you can look age-appropriate but still don't have to sacrifice style."
See more on Celebrity Beauty/Fitness:
- Chuck Liddell and girlfriend Heidi Northcott's naked workout (video)
- Demi Moore: Getting older has hurt my career
- Real Housewife Alexis Bellino's smokin' bikini photos
- Real Housewife Alexis Bellino: My diet and workout secrets
- Kate Gosselin shows off sexy new hair extensions
- Octomom Nadya Suleman flaunts bikini body: 'I lost 50 lbs without surgery'
- Real Housewives star Gretchen Rossi: How I overcame bulimia
- Heidi Montag: I had 10 plastic surgeries in one day
- Kim Kardashian's diet & weight loss secrets
Comments
Kornheiser should shut his pie hole. Hannah looks damn good for 47.
espn official suspension is way longer than three days honey. Ridiculous
I think Tony was fantasizing and wishing he could tap that azz.
Stop showing your t-ts, and stop wearing skirts and f--k me boots. It’s gross.
dude, u need glasses. she looks damn fine. any guy that wouldnt hit that should look into dating men.
I don't think he should be suspended for his opinion but IMO she looks great! I thought I was going to see a really tacky Pam Anderson type look but I think she looks adorable especially for a 47 year old! Maybe this is all hype so she can get into Playboy or something! I am 49 and I would totally wear those outfits .Love the plaid skirt(I would wear black tights with that though) I actually wore something very similar to work today and I thought it looked nice...maybe I am delusional like Hannah.
Who the hell is he to tell Hanna what to wear? He's not her boss and she works on a sports show, where (i assyme) the viewers are mostly men. If you got it, flaunt it, Hanna! Go girl
Just saw your comment, Sarah. Work it, girl! If you like how you look and it's not vulgar, dress how you please~!
5'10" she is practically a man, she is a behemoth as far as being a woman and at 47 give it a break baby your over the hill.
Her body has absolutly no shape, no @#$@, no #$#, so un-anchor-ish
Gotta admit that Hannah's outfit was hardly flattering, but men like Tony have got to stop making assinine comments like that. As if he's some sort of a hunk?
What a croc! Mr. Tony says this kind of stuff ALL THE TIME. Men or women - it doesn't matter. He rips EVERYBODY because that's his act. That's what made him successful over the years on radio and also why ESPN hired him in the first place. If Hannah Storm worked for anybody other than ESPN there would be no suspension. Yet another reason to hate the "worldwide leader".
greg you must want to wear that outfit. kornheiser is a funny guy messing around if you cant take a joke then shut the tv off that is what he does big f-ing deal. He does it on a day to day basis thats the show if you dont like it dont watch. It is a bogus suspension if she doesnt want to be talked about dont wear the clothes like that.
i am so tired of this uptight society where you cant fart without being suspended or fined it is rediculous. Espn hired him for those exact comments then he gets suspended how nuts is that. Wake up world if we cant have fun and play around and enjoy life then why live it. if it has gotten that bad you might as well end it.
hannah is ugly as hell. tony was right to say what he did, she was dressed like a slut. go tony
Why wasn't hannah storm suspended two weeks for dressing like a grammer catholic school girl who stole twiggy's boots? and those legs , geez, they would look better on a cow.
TK we luv you. H storm shame on u.
Suspension is ridic. Her outfit was tacky (top pic). He didn't say outfit was slutty, just too tight for her age. It doesn't look tight to me, but I'm not 61. Bottom pic looks fine.
hannah is a slutcake.
Does she not ever watch the show "What not to Wear"?
It is an absolute NO NO for a woman over 40 to wear a skirt above her knees. I have heard this saying many times on that show - "Over 40 woman should wear skirts and dresses AT the knee or below - but NEVER above.
It doesn't make a difference whether you have a good figure or not. There comes a point when you just look stupid still dressing like your in your 20's or younger.
ESPECIALLY if you are on national TV.
I do think Kornheiser's remarks were tacky - but someone needs to give her a wake up call. Obviously her friends aren't telling her what she needs to hear.
His comments are true!...she is dressed inappropriately for the job. she looks ridiculous! She needs a makeover!!!
all I know is that sex sells and hannah is a slutcake
As a 45 year old man, who has never watched SportsCenter in years, all I can say: Way to go Hannah! Be yourself and don't change a thing!
That outfit is cheesy as hell but isn't Korenheiser's job to comment on athletes and sports and not what his colleagues are wearing? Do you job, Tony, and get a wig while you're at it.
She looks like cr-p.
Get your facts straight...Tony made the comments on his radio show and was suspended from PTI. He did not make the comments on PTI.
I love how all the fat, balding, middle aged men are the ones commenting about Hannah;s outfit. I dont have to see who you are to know that's your demographic, losers.
As a woman, I think Kornheiser was dead on, but maybe he should have addressed her stylist!!! They pay this person to make her look like that?!!!! Wow.
Funny, before this troll made his comments, I never knew his name, but I have heard of Hannah Storm before. He probably made these nutty remarks for attention, so in a way, he's not a total loser, I guess?
This is completely ridiculous to suspend Kornheiser. I completely agree with him that the outfit is completely horrifying. It's great to see that people have completely lost their sense of humor when it comes to these sorts of comments! Do you think anyone would be making an issue if Hannah were bagging on the outfit that Tony was wearing?
Let me break it down yall: Her outfit looks cheap and slutty, his comment was out of line, the suspension was over the top.
I don't think her age has anything to do with this. Hannah's outfit IS tacky, for any age. But tony should stick to commenting on sports and not his female colleagues. I'm sure he secretly has a hard-on for Hannah.
I realize that I'm in the minority but...
...who cares?
Yo Tony, ya gotta be a little more discreet, ya know? Next time pretend your Santee Klauuse and just act like youze singing about da weather. Something along da lines of:
ah Storm's a coming
HO HO HO!
Merry X games!
or maybe a lil bit of Nancy Sinatra's
These boots are made for (street?) walking!
Hannah looks and sounds like a man and she's not that cute and she's getting old so she has to try harder to get attention. The outfit was horrible but who are we to comment on it? If her bosses and viewers at ESPN don't find it objectionable that's probably what matters to her.
Cougar?
I am 26 and I would NEVER wear that outfit to the workplace. The woman in the pantsuit next to her looks a million times more respectable. Her clothes distract from what she is reporting on. It makes her seem less creditable. If you want people to take woman in sports seriously, ACT LIKE IT! Don't dress like you are hitting a club. It is absolutely inappropriate and asks for comments like that to be made. Just because you CAN wear something, doesn't mean you SHOULD...
I thinkt tony should have his mouth washed out with soap. but she probably takes it in the pooper
Hannah is just a dried up old crusty cougar who wants to attract younger men and dresses up like her 16 year old high schooler because she is the most insecure broadcaster on television. Message for Hannah: GROW UP !!! Your spindley lankey grasshopper legs are not sexy and we are sick of looking at them. You look as "distressed" as the cowboy boots you say you like to wear. You are a joke, a laughing stock and embarassment to ESPN and you ought to be suspended for dressing like a tailor trash hoe bag you must be you middle age worn out old milk of magnesia fart you.
I know someone that went to high school with her. He said they used to call her "Hand-job Hannah." I don't know if that's still true but she does inappropriately for her age. It's a shame, she's in great shape, she doesn't need to try so hard.
Does ESPN ever actually listen to Tony? Everything he says is with sarcasm, and that is what he gets paid for. Hannah is part of the sports scene, therefore she is fair game. How many times have people picked on NBA players for what they are wearing. I guess because she is a woman there are different rules. Obviously Hannah wants to stand out by dressing that way, she is, and now doesn't like it when something negative is said. Can't have it both ways. Go on Tony, I'm listening!!
I agree with HIM AND everyone else; the outfit AND 99% of her other "outfit's" are ridiculous for work/ANY age and/OR anywhere even outside of work. Not only are the clothes NOT in STYLE, they look just plain cheap/slutty and absurd. You'd think she'd have AT LEAST a wardrobe person advising her if NOT dressing her/I thought television hosts had them? Especially for one of her visibility? Strange to me that noone in the background stopped these "wardrobe nightmares" before they were televised? THEY should be suspended NOT KORENHEISER! The U.S. is SO psychotic with this "P.C. B.S."/when does/will it ever end?!
first of all the outfit is horrible to t.v., secondly she has no business covering football. All she does is repeat was she told to do and has no idea what it feels like to play football. How can anyone provide a fair analysis if they have never played.
I never watched her on Sports Center but that outfit IS AWFUL. Even a 25 year old wearing it would look cheap and tacky. Hannah was obviously trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator - her so called sex appeal, which she lacks not because she's old but because she just isn't hot. Period.
Hannah is hot. You people are just jealous.
Actually, I feel that if you where clothing that attracts attention, you should expect looks and comments.
I for one am rather tired of middle-aged women doing the schoolgirl, stripper, vamp look. With those knee high leather boots, short skirts, cleavage, animal prints and schoolgirl backpack purses they invade the workplace looking like Eastern European streetwalkers.
God forbid anyone has an opinion that might be disparaging to anyone who is not a white male in this country. It would seem there is a double standard here. If Tony had insulted a white male member of the ESPN staff it would not have ended in a suspension. This kind of "thought control" that is being propagated by political correctness is killing the spirit of everything that once made the USA great.
Free speech is wonderful but it comes with responsibility. When you start attacking someone,don't be surprised if you're punished. When Gumble said he doesn't care about the winter olympics because of the lack of black athletes, the same people who clamor about free speech were demanding he be fired, whining about a "double standard," and calling him a racist even though he said nothing racist. If Kornheiser had come out and attacked you personally, you'd probably demand he be fired. It's great to stand aside and criticize others, but it's another to take that criticism yourself. Most can do the former, but not the latter. Words do have consequences, just look at Columbine. I'm sure none of you Kornheiser supporters would be supporting someone who said the US brought 9/11 onto itself; you'd probably wait outside the building with your guns. Storm's just a product of the sexist culture anyways; for females to get/stay in mainstream media,they're forced to be "sexy."
Haha PLEASE!! Food for thought you honestly must not know anything about sports if you don't know who Tony Kornheiser is. It's no wonder you are okay with her outfits, because you obviously watch sports center to get fashion tips from Hannah and never turn on ESPN again or you WOULD have heard of him. Hannah Storm merely reports other people's news while Tony Kornheiser is an analyst paid for his insight and analysis. As for her outfits...she should try to get a job at Access Hollywood. She'd fit right in. But as long as you're a sports caster on ESPN, stop dressing like a hollywood diva. Just dress normal like Sage Steele or Chris McKendry. It's not about you Hannah. We watch for the real stars. Stop trying to steal the show.
Kornheiser is a closet homosexual. Don't get me wrong, I love him on PTI, but it's so obvious! Chris McKendry>Hannah Storm
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!