The incident quickly made waves online, reigniting long-standing criticism of Charles Barkley’s past behavior. While many fans have come to love his unfiltered humor on Inside the NBA, others argue that his repeated offhand comments—especially those involving violence—are far from funny. The female reporter’s visibly uncomfortable reaction was shared widely on social media, sparking fresh debates about whether Barkley’s brand of “joking” should still be tolerated in 2024. As the clip circulates, calls for accountability are growing louder, with critics insisting that charisma and a Hall of Fame career shouldn’t shield anyone from consequences when lines are clearly crossed.

Most NBA fans know Charles Barkley as the former NBA great turned analyst on Inside The NBA. He, Ernie, Kenny Smith, and Shaq provide us with laughter every single week on TNT.

A large majority of seasoned NBA fans also know Chuck to be a terrible human being throughout his life as he has joked about hitting women, joked about beating his wife, actually spitting on an 8-year-old during a game, as well as other things that can be found with a simple search on google.

Well, that old Chuck reared its ugly head again when he came acorss a female reporter at some type of get together and joked about hitting her.

She did not appreciate it.

Just FYI Charles Barkley told me tonight “I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you,” and then when I objected to that he told me I “couldn’t take a joke.”

— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019

Just FYI Charles Barkley told me tonight “I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you,” and then when I objected to that he told me I “couldn’t take a joke.”

— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019

There are almost no times I will beak an OTR “agreement” but this is not OK. And it was all because he came in talking about how he loves Deval Patrick and once someone from Pete‘s campaign came around he said he loved Pete and I reminded him he previously said he was a Deval fan

— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019

She then began to retweet some of Barkley’s dirty deeds from years past:

Barkley once told a room full of people at a NABJ panel in 2017 in New Orleans that Black women shouldn’t report sexual harassment/assault until they’re in power positions at the work place. https://t.co/nHDjF36SJ1

— Carron J. Phillips (@carronJphillips) November 20, 2019

The first serious conversations about domestic abuse in sports were sparked in 1990 by Barkley’s comment about beating his wife. A year later, he spat on an eight-year-old girl during a game. A year after that, Nike featured him in the famous “not a role model” ad. https://t.co/xJSbFNKZie pic.twitter.com/Ahfq6JxL3T

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) November 20, 2019

I hate being part of a story so here’s a reminder that this is so much bigger than me: nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the US. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence https://t.co/eqgn0McbYt https://t.co/nll7a0rv2o

— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019

I hate being part of a story so here’s a reminder that this is so much bigger than me: nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the US. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence https://t.co/eqgn0McbYt https://t.co/nll7a0rv2o

— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019

It’s not about me or my feelings — tho I’m grateful for the many friends who have reached out. But it’s about refusing to allow this culture to perpetuate because of silence on these issues. It’s easier and less awkward to be silent, but that helps NO ONE but the perpetrator.

— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019

Charles Barkley has since sent out a statement and apologized for his actions.

Statement on behalf of Charles Barkley in response to tweet by Axios reporter Alexi McCammond:

“My comment was inappropriate and unacceptable. It was an attempted joke that wasn’t funny at all. There’s no excuse for it and I apologize.”

— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) November 20, 2019