ESPN apologizes for and pulls offensive NBA "fist kiss" ad featuring Shaquille O'Neal

Yesterday I wrote about the offensive ad ESPN was airing to promote their NBA on ESPN RV Tour.

Rob Tobias Vice President, Media Relations for ESPN just gave us the following statement:

We have dozens of executions of the "NBA on ESPN RV Tour" online campaign and none are intended to be offensive to anyone or any community of people. Our intent is to send a positive message about the camaraderie of sports and to do so as creatively as we can. However, we understand your perspective on this ad and would like to apologize to the members of the gay community. In addition, we have decided to remove the ad from the campaign’s online executions.

ESPN has a long-standing tradition of supporting diversity in the workplace and beyond. We are fully committed to continuing a dialogue that welcomes and recognizes diverse perspectives.

I doubt any network ever "intends" to be offensive, but I'm glad they are going to pull it and hopefully think a little more carefully the next time they try something like this. As I said yesterday, both ESPN and Shaq have been the good guys and I accept their apology and say we move on.