Not long ago, a friend and former Sports Illustrated colleague of mine got in trouble, both with his employer and on social media — the latter being the greater sin these days — for doing the same thing I'm doing right now; talking to an audience he cannot see.
Okay, it's not exactly the same situation. Jon Wertheim was preparing for a studio spot on the Tennis Channel when he noticed the camera zooming in on him. I can tell you that is sometimes a horrifying experience to see yourself on camera, and Jon happened to notice how big his forehead looked. Thinking that he was not live, Jon unflatteringly compared his forehead size to that of Barbora Krejčíková, a tennis star who has won both the French Open and Wimbledon.
Jon was on camera. The moment was captured live on what is known as a hot mic, and inevitably went viral.
Wertheim apologized profusely, and the Tennis Channel suspended him "indefinitely." Krejčíková wrote, understandably, that she was disappointed by this type of unprofessional commentary.
As hot mic situations go, this was hardly epic. President Reagan once joked that "we will begin bombing Russia in five minutes" to a live audience that he didn't know was live. And if you're looking for a moment of levity, Google Bill O'Reilly, the former Fox News talking head, going absolutely bonkers over a teleprompter years ago.
But, look, Jon made a mistake, and it happened at the intersection of gender and sports at a moment when campaigning politicians can say almost anything in public as long as it pleases a partisan base. But, Lord, don't get caught saying something on a hot mic.
Well, first let me tell you about Jon. Smartest sports journalist I know; Yale grad, Penn Law School, decided to become a journalist instead of a lawyer. Not only a writer and Tennis Channel commentator, he's also the Associate Editor of Sports Illustrated, and also (drumroll, please) a '60 Minutes' regular.
Jon is so accomplished that when I heard this happened, I believed it could happen, just not to Jon.
Second, I have been around Jon countless times. We wrote a novel together, and in all those hours, I never heard one tasteless, sexist comment come out of his mouth. And sure, it's easy for me to defend Jon; I know him. But Krejčíková is coming from a different place. As a female athlete, she has undoubtedly been exposed to indignities I can't imagine, been sexualized on social media, etc. In her response to Jon, she wrote, "This is not the first time something like this has happened." I'm sure it isn't.
At the same time, we seem to blithely accept the hurtful incendiaries and sometimes downright libelous garbage that is hurled on the campaign trail. Our President-elect was not caught on a hot mic when he called immigrants vermin, and our Vice President-elect was not caught on a hot mic calling Kamala Harris trash. No, that's what you call campaign strategy.
As hurtful as Jon's remark was to the subject, it does matter that Jon was making a private comment. It does matter that he does not have a history of this. There are degrees of insult. Jon should be penalized, not pilloried. But it didn't happen because it was in the name of politics, and, well, the other side must have said something just as bad somewhere along the line.
What I'm asking for is a little perspective, please, in the case of Jon Wertheim.
