CBS Analyst Apologizes After Telling Panel He’s There ‘To Bring White Man’s Perspective’ to the Coverage

CBS analyst Doug Gottlieb got coverage of the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 off to an awkward start last night as he joked that he was there to bring the ‘white man’s perspective’ to the network’s pregame show.

Gottlieb made the remark during a pregame segment before the Marquette-Miami game on a panel with Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley–who are all black.

Sitting in the middle, Gottlieb said: ‘I don’t know why you guys ask me, I’m just here to bring diversity to this set, give kind of the white man’s perspective,’ he said during the show.

Fellow analyst Greg Anthony made a face after Gottlieb’s awkward comment and Kenny Smith said he had ‘jumped right into it.’

The remark raised the ire of some basketball fans on Twitter, who branded Gottlieb’s quip ‘awkward’ and ‘racist.’

At one point, Gottlieb addressed one of his critics directly, saying: ‘It is called a joke.’

Perhaps the harshest rebuke came from ESPN football analyst and former NFL player Mark May, who tweeted that Gottlieb should be ‘canned’ from CBS for what he said.

May posted: ‘That type of comment is ment (sic) for a bar not a national stage.Nice job Gottlieb I hope all the kids 12 and under didn’t hear it!’

But as the night wore on, Gottlieb received a show of support from one of his co-analysts, former NBA star Charles Barkley – who trashed Gottlieb’s detractors.

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Gottlieb was still on set Thursday night and unavailable for comment, but issued a statement through CBS.

‘It was not a smart thing to say and I apologize,’ he said.

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