ESPN on Sunday suspended longtime reporter Adrian Wojnarowski after he replied to an email from Sen. Josh Hawley's press office questioning NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league's relationship with China by writing, "F*** you."
The suspension will last two weeks.
Hawley, R-Mo., first tweeted Wojnarowski's response.
"Don't criticize #China or express support for law enforcement to @espn. It makes them real mad," Hawley tweeted along with a screen grab of the email.
ESPN called the behavior "completely unacceptable" and said it did not "condone it."
"It is inexcusable for anyone working for ESPN to respond in the way Adrian did to Sen. Hawley," the network said.
Wojnarowski apologized on Twitter.
"I was disrespectful and I made a regrettable mistake," he said.
"I'm sorry for the way I handled myself and I am reaching out immediately to Senator Hawley to apologize directly. I also need to apologize to my ESPN colleagues because I know my actions were unacceptable and should not reflect on any of them."
Hawley criticized the suspension and invited ESPN CEO Jimmy Pitaro to meet with him in Washington, D.C., to discuss "ESPN, China, the NBA."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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