Yahoo Sports Charles Barkley takes aim at 'politically correct people' he says are taking fun out of 'NBA on TNT'
Charles Barkley is lashing out at “politically correct people" he views are trying to ruin the "NBA on TNT" show by taking the fun out of it, particularly in the past 18 months.
Barkley railed against "cancel culture" while a guest on Monday's "Grant and Danny" show on 106.7 The Fan. He has spoken out against it before, but went more in depth on how he sees it's impacted the show.
Barkley: 'We can't even have fun anymore'
Barkley joined the show after host Danny Rouhier appeared on "NBA on TNT" doing an impersonation of Barkley. They chatted about how Rouchier enjoyed hearing the crew behind-the-scenes ahead of his appearance, which is when Barkley veered into cancel culture territory, calling it "so out of hand right now."
"You can't even have fun nowadays without these jackasses trying to get you canceled and things like that.
"I'm trying to hang on for another couple years until I'm 60 and then they can kiss my ass. Because I'm only working until 60. I've already told them that. I'm not working until the day I die. That's just stupid. And if I don't have enough money by now I'm an idiot anyway, so they should fire me anyway.
"That's all we ever talk about behind the scenes now, like, be careful of going in this direction. I'm like, yo man, we can't even have fun anymore. We've had fun all these years and now all of a sudden in the last year and half everybody is trying to get everybody fired and it really sucks."
Barkley continued:
"One of my favorite phrases is, 'We agree to disagree.' I'm not mad. I don't want you to be mad. We just disagree. But unfortunately, it's been happening for a couple years now. If people disagree with you they're going to get fired."
In general, people disagree with Barkley and his counterparts constantly because that's what sports talk is about. Not everyone has the same opinion or view of a player or teams talents, or what will help them succeed. But he's never been fired for that, nor have his peers in the space been fired for simply disagreeing.
Barkley calls some TNT bosses cowards
Barkley kept going and blamed it in part on some of the bosses at the network being "cowards."
"They're coming for your head, and a lot of our bosses are cowards," Barkley said. "I said, 'Context matters.' They're like, 'Context doesn't matter.' I said, 'That's total b.s. Context always has to matter.' But now, if you crack a joke the wrong way, they're like, 'Oh, no, no, no, no. You crossed a line.'"
He then added they "won't even let me talk about San Antonio anymore, when I'm always talking about those big 'ol women down in San Antonio."
Barkley has used the "joke" about larger women specifically from San Antonio for years now. He's called the city a "gold mine for Weight Watchers" and when he attempted an apology, he instead said he understood why they were heavier because he tried churros and decided they were delicious.
The hosts mentioned that San Antonio is rated one of the "fattest cities" in the U.S. and Texas one of the fattest states. Alabama, where Barkley is from, is also near the top. He also noted he is overweight.
Notably, though, his comments have never been about the people in San Antonio, but specifically he has targeted women. In the decades of his comments, he's never been "canceled."
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