Malika Andrews.
Leon Bennett/Getty Images for EBONYESPN Malika Andrews has been outspoken about the criticism she has received about perceived racial bias in her reporting.
Andrews, 29, has emerged as an NBA star DeMar DeRozanmental health talk series, Dinners with DeMarwhere NBA today and NBA Countdown the host explained how she was forced to confront the narrative.
“The hardest part for me sometimes is swallowing the lies, especially the one, ‘You hate black people,'” Andrews told the 35-year-old DeRozan. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. And using my family, or the way my family looks, as some sort of proof of that. This is simply false. And that’s just unkind.
Andrews comes from mixed race parents and married a fellow ESPN reporter Dave McMenaminwhich is white, in August.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Four months after his dramatic firing from ESPN, former NFL star Robert Griffin III insisted it’s all water under the bridge. Griffin, 34, was released by the Network in August after signing a multiyear contract through 2021. He was replaced by Jason Kelce as co-host of ESPN Monday Night Countdown in (…)
“It’s painful and I think it’s okay to say it sometimes. It hurts, Andrews admitted. “It doesn’t matter if it’s someone who’s credible or someone with a big platform or if it’s someone in their mom’s basement just putting out a post. Sometimes it’s painful when it comes out, especially for me when it’s not true.
Former NFL wide receiver Dez Bryant criticized Andrews during her coverage of the 2023 NBA draft, claiming she spent time discussing criminal charges brought against a draft pick Brandon Millerwhich is black while not covering an alleged link between a minor and project selection Josh Giddywhich is white.
“I advise you not to make this thing black or white,” Bryant, 36, posted through X at that time. “Your parents really raised you wrong and going to private school doesn’t make you better. You attract and I know your kind. You’re just a puppet. I don’t know how a former or current NBA player can sit across from you and look at you with any respect.”
Before Meghan Markle became a duchess, former ESPN host Ryan Russillo was hoping things might go down in the DMs. Russillo, 49, who now works for The Ringer, recalls meeting Markle, 43, on Super Bowl weekend in 2014. “We played in a celebrity football game together and it was all from (Sports Illustrated) swimsuits (…)
While she strongly disagrees with opinions like Bryant’s, Andrews admits that her journalistic background is not flawless.
“We all have a job to do and we’re doing our best — I’m trying to do my best — to show up every day in a way that you guys know what I’m about,” she told DeRozan. “That doesn’t mean I covered every story perfectly. That doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes. But I think I’m pretty good at saying specifically to you guys, “It could have been better there.”
She added: “As social media continues to get bigger in the world, that kindness and humanity that I worry about is sometimes lost.”
