ESPN Pulled Its Kevin Johnson Documentary—But Not Before I Watched It
'Down In The Valley' glorifies Sacramento's Mayor, an alleged sex abuser
By Max Rivlin-Nadler
On Monday, ESPN postponed its new 30 for 30 documentary Down In The Valley, a recounting of the years-long fight by the city of Sacramento to keep its NBA team from moving to a different city, a fight led by its mayor, the former NBA star Kevin Johnson, that had been set to air on October 20. But when I asked for a screener of the new Kevin Johnson film from ESPN, I was corrected by a spokesperson, who told me it was not, as early critics had leveled, a heroic depiction of the efforts of the city’s now-embattled mayor, but rather told the story of “the power of sports to inspire a city and revitalize a struggling community.”
Last Friday, ESPN pulled the media screener of the documentary, citing piracy concerns. But before it was pulled, I was able to see the film in its entirety. And despite the best efforts of ESPN’s PR apparatus to try to convince the media otherwise, the film goes well beyond portraying Kevin Johnson in a positive light. Down In The Valley amounts to a 77-minute political advertisement for Johnson, a man who in 1995 paid a 15-year-old over $230,000 to keep quiet after she alleged that he had sexually abused her.
Johnson’s more recent exploits, some as mayor, include intentionallybankrupting a historic black mayor’s conference, flagrant misuse of federal funds, and the installation within his city hall of paid staff members of an aggressively pro-charter school organization, who often failed to disclose their other employer. These revelations, as well as his long history of alleged sexual abuse, have been brought to the nation’s attention by the veteran sportswriter Dave McKenna, who has been meticulously detailing the dealings of Johnson for Deadspin. But even before that, thanks to thedogged reporting of the Sacramento Bee, a paper Johnson has battled withrecently, ESPN had to be well aware that the protagonist of its film was not ESPN Pulled Its Kevin Johnson Documentary—But Not Before I Watched It | The New Republic: