Hank Williams Jr. Dropped Permanently From ‘Monday Night Football’
ESPN dropped the song from its Colts-Buccaneers game on Monday night in response to Williams’s remarks, then deliberated about taking further action ever since. ESPN said on Thursday that it was its decision to end its long association with the singer, but Williams disputed that notion on his Web site: “After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made my decision. By pulling my opening Oct. 3, you (ESPN) stepped on the toes of the First Amendment freedom of speech, so therefore me, my song and all my rowdy friends are out of here. It’s been a great run.” In its statement, ESPN said: “We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of ‘Monday Night Football’ <a href="http://www.ecigs-store.com/egot-001-p-9.html"><strong>electronic cigarette brands</strong></a> has always been about the games, and that will continue.” ESPN, which informed Williams of its decision shortly before issuing its statement, had no comment on Williams’s version of events. The controversy began Monday on “Fox & Friends,” a morning show on the Fox News Channel. Williams criticized Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner for their round of golf over the summer, saying it would be like “Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu,” referring to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. When one of the show’s hosts said he did not understand the comparison, Williams said: “I’m glad you don’t, brother, because a lot of people do. They’re the enemy: Obama! <a href="http://www.ecigs-store.com/greentank-003-p-31.html"><strong>cigarette electronic cigarette</strong></a> And Biden! Are you kidding? The Three Stooges.” In one of two statements issued by Williams since the incident, he acknowledged that the Obama-Hitler comparison was “extreme.” He said: “I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me ... how ludicrous that pairing was” — meaning Obama and Boehner. “They’re polar opposites and it made no sense. They don’t see eye to eye and never <a href="http://www.ecigs-store.com/zreeoa-002-p-25.html"><strong>review electronic cigarette</strong></a> will. I have always respected the office of the president.” He also said: “When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hold when everybody else is without a job — it makes a whole lot of us angry.” Williams first sang “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” for a meeting of the ABC station affiliates in 1986. In 1989 he adapted the lyrics for the 20th anniversary of “Monday Night Football” on ABC.
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