Last Updated on February 14, 2022
On Tuesday, ESPN shared a clip from a new documentary focusing on the now debunked “noose” incident involving NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace. The promotion’s only black driver claimed to have found a noose in his stall prior to an event in June 2020, which he chalked up to racial animosity.
However, an FBI investigation concluded that the supposed noose was actually a garage door handle that had been attached to the door for quite some time.
ESPN’s new documentary titled “Fistful of Steel” treats the false narrative as reality, however. “Last year, a noose was found in Bubba Wallace’s stall at Talladega Superspeedway. The next day, the NASCAR community stood with him in unity,” ESPN wrote in a tweet promoting the feature.
The clip shows NASCAR drivers and staff walking behind Wallace’s car in solidarity layered over dramatic music. This took place shortly after the incident and was before the FBI had reported their findings. “I was like, ‘Holy s—, it’s the whole garage.’ … That’s when I lost it,” the tweet read, quoting Wallace.
Last year, a noose was found in Bubba Wallace's stall at Talladega Superspeedway. The next day, the NASCAR community stood with him in unity.
"I was like, 'Holy s—, it's the whole garage.' … That's when I lost it." pic.twitter.com/Zh5HWumagX
— ESPN (@espn) December 14, 2021
Like ESPN, Wallace himself has doubled down on the claim despite the FBI’s findings. “I’ve been racing all my life, we’ve raced out of hundreds of garages that never had never had garage pulls like that,” Wallace told Don Lemon in a June, 2020 interview. “From the evidence that we have, that I have, it’s a straight up noose.”
The outlet was blasted for spreading “misinformation” following the release of the documentary. “It was a garage pull cord that had been there for months, you dishonest, race-baiting, race-hoaxing clowns,” wrote The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis in a tweet.
“Here’s the biggest sports network in America producing an entire documentary about another race hoax as if it was real,” said radio host Jesse Kelly. Others cited articles written by ESPN themselves that reported on the FBI’s conclusions.
Here’s the biggest sports network in America producing an entire documentary about another race hoax as if it was real. #TheSkyIsGreen https://t.co/nqaMOr9s39
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) December 14, 2021
It was a garage pull cord that had been there for months, you dishonest, race-baiting, race-hoaxing clowns. https://t.co/OrEvV3mPpy
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) December 14, 2021
