Former NBA player and current analyst Charles Barkley is no stranger to controversial comments, but his latest have put him in the national spotlight.
A national political reporter wrote on Twitter that NBA legend Charles Barkley told her Tuesday night, “I don’t hit women, but if I did, I’d hit you.”
Alexi McCammond, an Axios reporter, said when she objected to the remark, Barkley told her she “couldn’t take a joke.”
Just FYI Charles Barkley told me tonight “I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you,” and then when I objected to that he told me I “couldn’t take a joke.”
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
The post has already gone viral on Twitter, with many criticizing Barkley for his alleged remarks. He later apologized for the remark.
“My comment was inappropriate and unacceptable,” Barkley said through a statement issued by Turner Sports. “It was an attempted joke that wasn’t funny at all. There’s no excuse for it and I apologize.
“I encourage you to consider how you’d respond if a friend said something similar to what Barkley said tonight,“ McCammond later tweeted. “And then challenge yourself to ask the same of yourself if a stranger (or ’celebrity’) said that. I hope the answers are the same. Everyone should be held accountable.”