Critics blow up Megyn Kelly’s ‘grotesque’ Osaka tweets

[ad_1]

(Newser) Naomi Osaka focused on her sanity ahead of her tennis return at the Tokyo Olympics, but fans still got to see her on the covers of Vogue Japan, Time and the Sports Swimsuit Edition Illustrated this month. This brought even more control over the four-time Grand Slam champion, who withdrew from Roland Garros rather than face a press conference, including former NBC and Fox host Megyn Kelly. “Since saying she was too introverted to talk to the media after tennis matches, Naomi Osaka started a reality show, A Barbie, and is now on the cover of the SI swimsuit issue,” he said. Conservative commentator Clay Travis tweeted Monday. Kelly added, “Let’s not forget the cover of (and interview in) Vogue Japan and Time Mag!” Osaka responded, saying the reporter should have researched the magazine’s publication deadlines because “I shot all of my covers last year.”

Travis and Kelly should have known, which means “they potentially knowingly cantilevered a false notion to their combined millions of followers,” writes Mike Freeman, editor of Sports, Races and of inequalities from USA Today. Osaka called on Kelly to “do better,” then blocked her. But Kelly was not finished. “I guess she’s only tough on the courts,” she replied. “The truth is, she doesn’t like Qs that she can’t control.” SI swimsuit editor MJ Day, who confirmed the cover was shot in December, accused Kelly of intimidating Osaka “for attention,” according to NBC News. For Freeman, it’s no coincidence that Osaka’s critics (including Piers Morgan) are white. It is “control mixed with a number of other fuels, like race, misogyny,” he writes. Whatever the motive, it is “grotesque and shameful … to harass a woman because of her depression,” writes conservative CNN host SE Cupp to the Chicago Sun-Times. (Read more stories from Naomi Osaka.)

[ad_2]