Former ESPN Reporter Ed Werder Accuses ‘SI’ Writer of Sexism

Several prominent sports journalists went at it on social media Monday, over a job posting which specifically requested female applicants.

The Twitter donnybrook erupted after a June 18 tweet by Sports Illustrated’s Charlotte Wilder who posted about a job specifically seeking “a woman trying to get into sports,” Awful Announcing reported.

If you can stand sitting near me in the office this is a v cool opportunity. Especially if you're a woman trying to get into sports, you should message me — DMs are open https://t.co/CI6uyFQAKV

— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) June 18, 2018

Wilder’s tweet — though she likely thought it was quite innocent — did not sit well with former ESPN NFL Reporter Ed Werder who replied to the job posting tweet with a pointed question: “So men need not apply? Any others ineligible?”

So men need not apply? Any others ineligible? https://t.co/GwcCrFtmak

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

Uh, oh. Fur is about to fly…

Wilder quickly jumped back to her account with a sarcastic reply about the low number of women working in sports media:

Oh WOW you're right, Ed, sorry for attempting to make sports media more than 10% female, my bad

— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) June 18, 2018

But Werder wasn’t to be deterred from his gender-blind ideals:

I just always associated SI with hiring the best regardless of race, sex and other factors. https://t.co/hIMoWpbHfS

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

Not to be out done, Wilder was just as adamant over her feminist-minded attack on the sports media’s glass ceiling:

Well unfortunately a lot of women and people of color who ARE the best often get passed over during hiring processes at EVERY publication, so it's important to make an extra effort

— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) June 18, 2018

Then Werder got a bit more personal:

Oh so you’re saying the rest of the industry is racist and sexist except for you. https://t.co/lGkwqtBMHu

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

And the descent into personal sniping continued with Wilder essentially calling Werder stupid:

Can you even read? It's truly astounding that THAT is what you're taking away from these tweets

— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) June 18, 2018

At this point, ESPN’s Mina Kimes tried to femme-splain things to Werder:

@TheWilderThings encouraging women to apply for a position isn't the same thing as "excluding" men. it's helping female applicants network, which can be a challenge given the massive gender imbalance in our industry (which I'm sure you know exists).

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) June 18, 2018

But Kimes’ attempt to set Werder straight didn’t work out so well. Werder insisted he read Wilder’s post and saw clearly that she was trying to give an SI job away only to a female applicant.

Read her original post as an aspiring young male sports writer and tell me she’s not disqualifying you from getting the job. https://t.co/cs2FVTCJk8

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

Later, fellow former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry took Werder’s back:

Thank you, Britt. I appreciate it. https://t.co/MLTWlZa0Fg

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

The fact that this whole tweet war has still not been deleted may be just as amazing as the fact that it flamed up in the first place. But what ever else was going on, it looks like Ed Werder just gained an object lesson in quota-seeking, left-wing, grievance groups and their total disregard for merit hiring.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.