Twitter was not having it.
Jason Whitlock has been getting ruthlessly dragged on Twitter for speaking positively about Kobe Bryant following his tragic passing, despite having spent so much time speaking ill on Kobe while he was alive. Whitlock and Speak For Yourself co-host Marcellus Wiley were joined by TJ Houshmandzadeh and Jim Jackson on the show on Monday to reflect on Kobe’s legacy, and Whitlock had nothing but kind words for the late NBA star.
However, many pointed out Whitlock’s hypocrisy due to how openly he expressed his disdain for Kobe before his death.
One occasion in particular that had folks giving Whitlock the side-eye for switching up on his opinion about Kobe once he’d passed was when Whitlock published an open letter to Kobe on ESPN titled “Kobe, keep your mouth shut.” In the article, Whitlock used derogatory language to speak not only about Kobe himself, but about his wife, Vanessa, as well.
Kobe fans were not pleased to see someone who wrote such a disrespectful piece about Kobe then try to backtrack as if his vendetta against him never existed.
Whitlock has had some very unpopular takes in the past, such as not dealing with “real racism” and his show His many controversial stances meant that many Twitter users relished in the sight of him get called out on the TL.
Users were even more thrilled that a video of Kobe refusing to answer Whitlock’s reach of a question at a conference had resurfaced.
It looks like nobody is taking the bait on this one, instead making sure that the sports journalist knows he’s not getting away with his hypocrisy.