ESPN dumps Hank Williams Jr

     I definitely support ESPN's decision to drop Hank Williams Jr. While I realize that the singer has a right to espouse his political views, ESPN has an equal right to decide who is associated with their network. The comments that Williams made were offensive and unprofessional and I think it makes sense for a network like ESPN to want to dissociate with such a person. Regardless of your political views, comparing the president of the United States to Adolf Hitler is bad for business. The decision to drop Williams may not be supported by long lovers of the Monday Night Football anthem, but in terms of corporate image, I think it was a wise choice.
      I think every network or corporation should be able to decide who is associated with their brand. The power of association is extremely important for companies, and ESPN realized this and acted swiftly. When I think of Monday Night Football, I think of Williams song, and after watching the ESPN video, I think of his remarks about the president. The association between the singer's comments and the network's broadcasts were unavoidable.  When it comes to the issue of freedom of speech, I think ESPN did nothing wrong. They placed no limit on his freedom of speech and there was no government intervention or regulation over what he said. The network's decision was, if anything, a public relations decision, not a freedom of speech issue. I think it's easy to say that the song itself has nothing to do with Hank's comments and that viewers won't associate Williams' comments with the network, but I don't think that is realistic.