Bomani Jones Wears 'Caucasians' Shirt With White-Faced Chief Wahoo On ESPN
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Bomani Jones caused quite a stir on ESPN on Thursday morning by wearing a shirt that said "Caucasians" with a white-faced Chief Wahoo – a parody of the Cleveland Indians logo.
TMZ reported that ESPN told Jones, who was guest-hosting "Mike & Mike," to cover up the shirt during the show because the network "freaked out."
"As the show progressed, we felt Bomani had made his point and had openly discussed why he was wearing the shirt, and we wanted to keep the focus to the topics of the day," ESPN said in a statement.
Jones did zip up his hoodie halfway, but the logo was still seen.
Jones said on the show his statement was "obvious."
"This is the same thing that goes on with the logo for the Cleveland Indians. To have a problem with the logo of this would be to have a problem with the Indians, but if you're quiet about the Indians and now you have something to say about my shirt, I think it's time for introspection," Jones said.
Jones added that it's "completely indefensible" that the Indians won't get rid of the Chief Wahoo logo.
"I really like the shirt. I think it's funny. It's just like the Cleveland Indians shirt, like exactly the same as the Cleveland Indians shirt, with just one small change. I think the money sign is very helpful because people still buy this stuff," Jones explained. "The reason they won't get rid of Chief Wahoo, which is completely indefensible, is because they can still sell stuff with it. They can say they can de-emphasize it, but they're just not going to set money on fire."
Last week, Indians owner Paul Dolan announced the organization demoted the Chief Wahoo logo to secondary status.
"(There are) no plans to get rid of Chief Wahoo. It is part of our history and legacy," Dolan told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Jones' shirt started a conversation about the use of these types of logos and mascots on social media.
