NABJSports statement on Black Sports Online and Inappropriate Conduct

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Sports Task Force is troubled by the recent allegations towards Black Sports Online and its CEO Robert Littal that center around his mistreatment of Black Women while creating an uncomfortable, toxic workplace for them at BSO.

There is simply no place or tolerance for individuals or groups who willingly allow this to happen or in the case of Mr. Littal, play an active role in its existence.

We support and applaud the bravery shown by so many women who speak out on sexual harassment, including Tamantha Gunn whose social media postings exposed the misogynistic issues she and other Black Women experienced at BSO under Littal’s leadership.

 “I shared my experience because I recently found out that his disgusting behavior continued towards other women who worked for him,” Gunn said in a statement. “I want Mr. Littal, as a father of a young Black daughter, to do a better job engaging with women in a work setting. I want him to realize that what he did was wrong and has caused a lot of sorrow to those involved. I hope that my story can encourage other women who have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, at BSO or elsewhere, to speak out and end the cycle of toxic work environments.”

 Mr. Littal issued the following apology.

“I realize that there are things I’ve said to my past contributors that were inappropriate, inconsiderate and just flat-out wrong. For that I apologize. I can admit looking back at it that I made those women feel uncomfortable and I want to publicly apologize to each one of them seriously. I’ve grown as a person since then and I’ll use this teachable moment to keep growing. That’s not who I am at the core; I just made some bad decisions that I have to own up to now.”

“The misogynistic behavior of Mr. Littal toward women at Black Sports Online is just sad and pathetic on so many levels. We are committed to not only addressing the need for change but also becoming the change that we want to see by taking a more active and vigilant role in addressing sexual harassment and other workplace issues,” said A. Sherrod Blakely, chair of the NABJ Sports Task Force.

 While the Sports Task Force has had limited engagement with Mr. Littal who has not been a member of NABJ since 2014, there will be no engagement of any sort with the Sports Task Force going forward until he and BSO show clear signs of making the kind of systemic changes necessary to improve BSO’s culture towards women and end the cycle of sexual harassment.

We proudly stand with our sisters who are #SurvivingBSO and will do everything within our power to defend them and hold Mr. Littal accountable, as should his sponsors and those who follow his website, for his actions while bringing about the type of transformative change that is long overdue.

For the NABJ statement, click here.