The Scoon Q&A:
Curtis Scoon: You left Outkick in December, what have you been doing the past six months?
Jason Whitlock: Working on what’s next for me. Trying to be more deliberate about my next move. Making sure I’ve vetted the people I partner with next. Listening to gospel music.
What’s next?
I’m going to partner with Blaze Media on a podcast/digital TV show and writing platform called Fearless. We’re going to launch in the next month or so. We secured a studio/office space in Nashville and are in the process of getting it broadcast-ready. And we’re also assembling a staff to work with me.
What’s going to be the focus of the platform?
We’re going to tap into the same energy that YouTuber Kevin Samuels and Kwame Brown have tapped. It’s time for fearless men to stand up. We’ve surrendered control of the conversation too long to emasculated secular voices, voices that will say anything to stay in the good graces of Satanic Hollywood overlords. The Fearless platform has a mission of promoting a culture of fearlessness, free speech, masculinity, truth seeking and patriotism. Everybody’s pretending like they hate America but no one wants to leave. Shit is dishonest.
You proved at Outkick that you’re a juggernaut, a singular, powerful force. Why not go solo? Why the Blaze?
I believe there is power in partnership, particularly in this era of forced division. I believe there is power in partnership among Christians. I hit it off with Glenn Beck. I think we share a vision on how to fix what’s wrong with America. America is in free-fall. The global elites are actively promoting racial division and racial warfare. I love America. I don’t want to see it fall. My nephews and nieces have to live in the world we leave them.
You met the kid Dante Love that I basically adopted in 2008 when he broke his neck playing football at Ball State. Dante has a family and a young son, and I want to leave them a world where they can flourish. I have a cousin, Josh Torrence, who I helped raise for two years when I lived in Kansas City. He’s grown now with a family and a son. I want to leave them a world where they can flourish. If executed properly, this Fearless project is going to bring Christians together across racial differences.
The Blaze brand is about love of Christ and love of America. We’re going to add some pepper to the Blaze. People are going to love how it tastes. Finally, I formed a creative connection with the CEO of the Blaze, Tyler Cardon, and the president of the Blaze, Gaston Mooney. These guys are going to be two of the biggest names in news media very soon. They are at the forefront of where the TV audience is headed. I can learn a lot from them. And they’re open to my ideas.
Your social media critics will say you’re working for another white media outlet instead of doing your own thing or working with someone black. What’s your response?
I can’t control what low-level thinkers say. I’m partnering with people who love Christ and love America. I’m working with people who bought into my vision and have the resources to support it.
Honestly, I wanted you to partner with me at ScoonTV. People dig our podcast conversations on Tuesdays. How will your partnership with the Blaze impact Politickin’?
We’re going to figure out how to make it work. And we are partners. I’m invested in your success. I’m always going to be invested in your success. I think you’re a major public intellectual. You’re the closest I’ve seen to a modern-day Malcolm X. You have street credibility, charisma and remarkable wisdom. I’m going to continue to shine my spotlight on ScoonTV and Curtis Scoon. I’m going to figure out how to make you a part of what I’m doing at Fearless. You shine, I shine. But the truth is we’re two alpha males, two lions. You put us in the same den and there’s bound to be drama. Lol.
That’s what’s up. OK, let’s transition to the past. Fox TV recently announced it purchased Outkick. Do you regret exiting Outkick?
No. At this stage of my life, my decisions are not driven by finances. I’m not surprised Outkick sold to Fox. Clay Travis has an excellent relationship with the president of Fox Sports, Eric Shanks. Outkick has a favorable relationship with FanDuel, a gambling company. Fox and all the sports networks are getting more and more involved with gambling companies. I am a man of strong principle, to a fault. My word is my word. And I expect that from the people I partner with. I was lied to.
Now, Clay has a different set of pressures than me. He’s married with three kids. When you have that kind of responsibility, your word tends to be more flexible and your resolve to acquire money more intense. I made the right decision for me. Clay believes he made the right decision for Clay, his wife and his three kids.
That sounds good, Jason, but that’s a whole lot of money and most people had never heard of Outkick before you started working there. Do you plan to sue?
Ha. No comment.
Okay. That didn’t sound like no.
It sounded like no comment.
What’s your take on Clay Travis (and Buck Sexton) taking over for Rush Limbaugh? Did you have an interest in filling Rush’s shoes? Do you think it’s a good fit for Clay?
Replacing Limbaugh will be a daunting task for anybody. It’s not something I was interested in. The job is totally partisan. There’s a chance some form of sanity might return to the Democratic party. I will shill for God, and that’s it. I wish Clay well. Time will tell if it’s a good fit.
You’ve referenced listening to gospel music and working with Christians. When we do Politickin’ you mention your faith frequently. Did you have some sort of spiritual awakening in the last year?
No and yes. I’ve always written about my faith or mentioned it on TV. People didn’t pay attention because I was such a worldly person no one took me seriously. Mentioning Jesus after you just left the stripclub or just wrote a column about Pussy (Galore) being undefeated doesn’t lend a lot of credibility to your testimony.
I’m a combination of two people. My father and my grandmother. My dad was a man of the world and the streets. He owned a neighborhood bar and was a ‘hood heartthrob in Indianapolis. My grandmother was the embodiment of Christian love and redemption. I wanted to be my dad, still do. He was an independent dude, a modern Booker T. Washington. My grandmother planted a love of Jesus in me as a boy. Early in my public life I showed off my father’s side. The last five years or so the seeds my grandmother and 25th Street Baptist Church planted in me have blossomed.
I’m wearing my faith publicly. It helps my decision-making. It helped me survive Los Angeles and working in corporate television. Last year, at the beginning of the pandemic, a buddy in Texas sent me a link to a sermon from this preacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mike Todd. It was an Easter sermon. It was amazing. I became a huge fan of Mike Todd’s sermons. Around the same time, a friend I played football with at Ball State texted me a Rance Allen and Kirk Franklin song, “Something About The Name Jesus.” It’s literally my favorite song of all time. I try to start every morning listening to it. It gets my mind and spirit right.
You’re a target of the social justice and leftist crowd. Are you concerned your personal skeletons will be used against you?
Not really. I don’t have any secrets. I’ve lived transparently as a public figure. I’ve written or talked about all of my dirt. My receipts are all over Las Vegas. If there’s a sin a consenting man and woman or consenting man and women can commit, I’ve committed it. One of my friends said he’s thinking about renewing his wedding vows just so I can throw him a second bachelor party. For the record, my bachelor party-hosting days are over. Would I act as a consultant? No comment.
You tweeted last week that former NBA number 1 pick Kwame Brown could be the most important athletic voice since Muhammad Ali. Why do you believe that?
This kid has Grant Hill’s intelligence, Ali’s charisma, Malcolm X’s balls and Richard Pryor’s vocabulary. He’s a disruptor. He has a message and an agenda. Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson are just props he’s using to build an audience. He couldn’t care less about those guys. He has two goals: 1) force the sports media to elevate their conversation; 2) protect his ability to serve as a father to his kids.
How do you know this? Have you spoken to Kwame?
Talked with him briefly but not about his agenda. I just offered him encouragement. But I think it’s obvious what he’s doing. He used Barnes and Jackson to draw attention to what really happened to him with the Wizards. One of his first comments was about Michael Jordan and the Wizards not wanting to develop him after they drafted him number 1. He said Jordan wanted to trade him for Elton Brand, an established player. It makes perfect sense. Jordan was 38 and 39 years old with the Wizards. There’s no motivation for Jordan to develop a teenager straight out of high school.
Kwame couldn’t help Jordan win. Jordan had a dispute with Wizards management about what to do with Kwame Brown. Jordan took out his anger on Kwame. Jordan filled the Wizards roster and coaching staff with his cronies. The greatest player in NBA history sabotaged the first two years of Kwame’s career and spread the narrative that Kwame was a bust. Kwame was a victim of Jordan’s petty, abusive nature. Kwame was never able to escape the narrative set by the most powerful man in basketball. He’s had to carry that for 20 years.
Jordan controlled the league and the media. The impact of Jordan’s abuse is still with Kwame today. Kwame has kids. They’re probably athletic and sports fans. They might listen to All the Smoke or The Jump. He doesn’t want his kids overhearing grown men talking about him like he was some sort of historic failure. Kwame is saying Barnes, Jackson, and Stephen A. Smith are undermining his ability to be an effective father.
He’s retired. He’s minding his own business. He’s transitioned out of the game and into fatherhood. He’s saying the alleged sports media experts have been too lazy and too afraid of pissing off Jordan to tell the truth about his career. He’s saying these guys are full of shit. They talk about being a voice for the voiceless, speaking truth to power, and the truth is they’re all just groupies for whoever is popular and in power. Jordan, Kobe, etc. He calls it “go along get along gang.” They’re protectors of the elite, but they front like they’re not afraid of anybody and will speak truth.
Kwame was a voiceless, powerless teenager in comparison to Jordan. Nobody spoke for Kwame 20 years ago. And they won’t speak for him now. Maybe they’re hoping Kwame will be killed by the police and then they’ll speak for him when there’s Twitter and Instagram fame to be gained. We love dead negroes. That’s liberal America’s favorite kind of black man — in a casket with a street memorial of flowers and slogans.
Kwame has criticized damn near everybody — Jackson, Barnes, Gilbert Arenas, Stephen A, Chris Broussard, Rob Parker, Jemele Hill, Charlamagne tha God. Do you think he will come for you? Where do you think Kwame goes from here?
I really wouldn’t care if he attacked me as long as he did it to make a larger point. Everybody comes for me at some point. I’m just happy he’s making an impact. I think over time, once he’s built his following up, he’s going to lean more into the substance.
The dude is smart and talented. He’s funny as hell. He can talk for two hours straight and not run out of material. He’s creating room for parents to parent. I love that he’s hammering people for telling black kids they can’t make it in America, and he’s using his own life to say that’s a fucking lie. Quit filling kids up with negative energy. A year from now, I see Kwame on the same level as Kevin Samuels.
Where do you see yourself and Fearless a year from now?
We’re going to be a unifying voice in America, a problem for the bootlickers you’re always blasting. We want to be the connective tissue for people who look different but share similar values. I’m going to keep throwing alley-oops to and shining a light on black creators who don’t look at black people as helpless victims.
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