Former ESPN colleagues get in epic social media feud over incendiary Kamala Harris comment
An explosive comment about Kamala Harris had several ex-ESPNers, including Keith Olbermann, battling on X on Sunday and a lawsuit being threatened.
Chris Palmer, who covered the NBA for ESPN, began the wild chain of events when he tweeted in the aftermath of Joe Biden bowing out of the 2024 presidential race: “Kamala Harris might be the least qualified person in history to do anything.”
As of Monday morning, that post had 2,200 comments, more than 725 retweets, 622 likes and 91 bookmarks, meaning it has been ratio’d.
Palmer, after several other tweets about the Democratic party, referenced the engagement his initial tweet had received, while citing a family connection to Harris.
“Damn this ratio crazy,” Palmer posted. “There’s no way I’m clicking on this. Nah. I already know what it says. But the funny thing is. My Dad and Kamala’s Dad hung out together. They were both economists from the West Indies. They would come over to the house for dinners when I was a little kid.”
Two folks who did not let Palmer’s comments slide were former ESPN writer LZ Granderson, now with the Los Angeles Times, and the former “SportsCenter” host in Olbermann.
Granderson quote tweeted Palmer’s initial message with the caption: “I was your editor. You got in trouble for making up quotes Maybe focus on your qualifications 🤷🏽♂️.”
He did not provide any details on which quotes were allegedly fabricated.
That tweet set off Palmer, who quote tweeted the message with a harsh response: “What the f–k are you talking about. Call me on the phone right now. Are you out of your f–king mind.”
Palmer later added that he DM’d Granderson, who did not reply, and accused him of being “scared to call.”
“Bruh, you got problems now,” Palmer wrote. “You definitely do.”
Palmer continued to go over Granderson for allegedly dodging him before saying he would let his beef go with an apology and retraction.
He then threatened legal action.
“Welp. I gave him an easy out. I hope his lawyer is as good as mine,” Palmer write. “For now. I got Lamborghinis to drive. There’s a meet up in Long Beach tonight. It might get loud.”
He later wrote: “This dude @LZGranderson just gonna randomly slander me in public. Nah, you not gonna be able to get out of this. You better have a good lawyer.”
Granderson, who wrote a column praising Biden for his actions, has not replied to any of said tweets as of Monday morning.
The Palmer-Olbermann interaction did not have as much substance, but Olbermann also went after Palmer for allegedly fabricating details.
Olbermann responded to the original tweet with this message: “What did you get caught faking again asswipe?
