Fox Sports Radio Host Blasts ‘Fraud’ Tennis Star Naomi Osaka for Suggesting Press Conference Reform: ‘The Dumbest Idea I’ve Heard’
A little more than a month after withdrawing from the French Open, citing mental health concerns, tennis superstar Naomi Osaka suggested press conference reform. According to Fox Sports Radio host Ben Maller, “this has gotta be, the dumbest idea I’ve heard of in some time.”
Last week, Osaka penned a letter published by Time Magazine, discussing the changes she believes need to be made in sports.
“In my opinion (and I want to say that this is just my opinion and not that of every tennis player on tour), the press-conference format itself is out of date and in great need of a refresh. I believe that we can make it better, more interesting and more enjoyable for each side. Less subject vs. object; more peer to peer,” Osaka wrote.
“Perhaps we should give athletes the right to take a mental break from media scrutiny on a rare occasion without being subject to strict sanctions,” she adds as a suggestion.
Maller vehemently disagreed with Osaka’s idea on his Fox Sports Radio show. “Adults look at this and think this is ridiculous,” Maller said. “Not surprisingly, the ‘wokesters’ out there are like ‘this is a good idea!’ A lot of people in the media are sympathetic to the absurd.”
?@benmaller: “Naomi Osaka has exaggerated her animosity with the media because she’s been milking it for all it’s worth…On one hand, she wants to stay away from the media but on the other, she’s shooting a Netflix documentary and being on the cover of a magazine.” pic.twitter.com/T069qPug2y
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) July 12, 2021
“This topic has been politicized and weaponized. Any pushback you’re called nasty names, you’re ‘evil’, this that and whatever ‘ism’ it is,” Maller continued. “Simple answer is this is just dumb…So because Naomi Osaka is ‘uncomfortable with the press’ you have to change the entire system?”
Maller argues that media responsibilities are part of being a professional athlete. “If my hot take is so out there that you should do what has to be done for the job requirement and not skip out on it and I’m the bad guy? I’ll be the bad guy,” Maller said.
“She’s been milking this for all it’s worth,” Maller adds of Osaka, claiming The New York Post already exposed her “as being a fake, a phony, and a fraud.”
“After winning what turned out to be the final match when she quit the French Open, she did something that raised many eyebrows that this was not an authentic, ‘I hate the media situation.’ Osaka allowed herself to be interviewed by a Japanese broadcaster…and they paid her for what she said. She had no issue blabbing away because she was getting paid for it.”
After withdrawing from the French Open and sitting out of Wimbledon, Osaka is preparing to represent her country by returning to the court at the Tokyo Olympics, July 23. At just 23-years-old, Osaka remains one the sports brightest young stars, as the second ranked women’s tennis player in the world.
