ESPY Awards ‘non-invite’ list controversy: All you need to know

ESPY Awards organisers snubbed multiple women athletes from their guest list for the event on Wednesday night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Most of these sportswomen were also nominated for various awards.

Multiple athletes have since addressed the matter on social media, which put the ESPY Awards organisers under heavy criticism. These athletes include NCAA Basketball player Aliyah Boston, NJ/NY Gotham FC star Caprice Dydasco and others.

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The social media uproar

Teammates, coaches and fans of the uninvited players have lashed out at the ESPY Awards. Soccer player Dydasco’s teammate Nicole Baxter pointed out “the constant disrespect for women’s sports”, announcing that ESPY nominated colleague was not invited to the event.

WNBA Hall of Fame player Dawn Staley, who now coaches South Carolina Gamecocks, spoke out against the controversial guest list. She highlighted the snub this week, musing publicly on social media how the people who planned the ESPYS decided “it was a great idea not to invite” the woman who won several national awards as one of the best players last season.

“Not one person was able to see the uproar this would cause? There’s definitely something wrong with the make up of the room,” Staley said on Twitter.

Aliyah Boston’s reaction

Responding to the controversy, organisers of the ESPY Awards sent an 11th-hour invite to Aliyah Boston, which she later refused, according to reports from Associated Press. She said that the late invitation was even more hurtful than not being invited in the first place. 

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It hurt more to see ESPN change course and invite me only after social media caught wind of it,” Boston posted on Twitter on Wednesday. “Respectfully, I declined.”

So who was invited?

In addition to almost all male athletes, various musicians and artists made it to the high-profile guest list, according to an ESPN press release. The list included celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Allison Brie, Ciara, Jon Hamm, Lil Wayne, and Aubrey Plaza.