Dana White slaps wife: ESPN shrugs off accountability in curt statement amid criticism

ESPN have been criticized for passing the buck after their statement regarding Dana White and the slapping incident involving his wife.

Earlier this week, a video of the UFC president hitting his wife was released by TMZ. The night in question was New Year's Eve, where Dana White and his wife Anne were out celebrating in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

The video showed the pair drinking and arguing before Anne slapped the 53-year-old, who then hit her back. Since then, Dana White has spoken with TMZ and apologized for his behavior:

“There was definitely a lot of alcohol involved, but that’s no excuse. I am making no excuses for this at all. It’s never happened before. It was the first time. I don’t know why it happened. My wife and I apologized to each other. We apologized to our kids.”

Following the incident and White's appearance on TMZ, ESPN, the UFC and Endeavor have been criticized by fans for remaining silent amid the controversy.

Per Bloodyelbow.com, the publication reached out to ESPN for comment, but they merely passed the responsibility onto someone else:

“UFC comms can best help you on your inquiry. Reminder: ESPN does the distribution and UFC produces the content."

Place your bets for the upcoming UFC Fight Night main card and earn $$$.

---

Ariel Helwani responds to latest Dana White controversy

Ariel Helwani had some stern words for Dana White this week following the UFC president's altercation with his wife.

Helwani and White have a fractured relationship which dates back to 2016 at UFC 199. The Canadian journalist was famously removed from the arena and banned from covering future UFC events by White because he broke the news of Brock Lesnar's planned return at UFC 200.

Following the ban, an emotional Helwani spoke about the incident during the time and openly cried about the situation, which Dana White mocked on an episode of UFC Unfiltered.

Now, Helwani has responded to the 53-year-old following the incident with his wife and referred to the UFC president mocking him:

"There has only been one [comment] that has stuck with me, that hurt me right here. Dana was on UFC Unfiltered and in the interview, he was making fun of the fact that when I spoke about it on this show in a different studio, I got very emotional. They were talking about me crying and he said, 'Your kids are gonna see that one day' and how embarrassed they would be by seeing their father cry."

Helwani added:

"What are your kids gonna say about you? What are your kids gonna say about your legacy?... What are your kids gonna say about that video? What are your kids gonna say about the kind of person that you are? What are your kids gonna say about you? Ask yourself that f**king question."

Catch Helwani's response here: