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'Shame on you': ESPN slammed for firing Allison Williams over vaccine mandate

The 37-year-old has been an ESPN employee since 2011 and said she will be 'separated' from them for good in the final week of October

After pulling Sage Steele off-air for questioning Obama's Blackness and for openly speaking out about feeling "defeated" by ESPN's vaccine mandate, the network has done it again. This time it's sports reporter Allison Williams who has turned the tables and decided to walk out due to the Covid vaccine mandate. Williams had announced in September that she and her husband were thinking of expanding their brood by bringing another child into their family after their first son in 2019. Disney, ESPN's parent company mandated the vaccines in July which according to CDC guidelines have been approved for everyone above the age of 12, including pregnant and lactating women. 

It started with her being taken off from reporting from the sidelines of college football games this season because of her refusal to take the vaccine. Williams first started at ESPN in 2011 and worked majorly over college football and basketball coverage. However, she missed Week 1 of the ongoing football campaign and she made an official announcement on Instagram about what had happened. Williams said she and her husband are trying for a second baby and her request for accommodation by the network had been denied and she's being let go. The 37-year-old said she will be 'separated' from them for good in the final week of October.

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"Thank you everyone who reached out email, called, texted me. I can't tell you how much light it brought in a relly dark and difficult time," Williams said in a video while fighting back tears. She spoke about getting messages from mothers in regards to fertility and getting the injection. From women who got the vaccine and "having successful pregnancies and babies in their arms" to women who got the injection and faced "subsequent miscarriages," Williams said she believes all stories but an injection which did not stop the transmission of the virus didn't do it for her. She said she couldn't put paycheck over pregnancy and it didn't align with her values. 

"I don't know what the future holds. But I am going to be focus on what I have to be thankful for. O am going to hold on to my faith. I am going to pray that things get better and then I can see you on the television screen," Williams added. The video has amassed over 38K views at the time of reporting the news and Williams has managed to gain a support group online. At the same time, ESPN has gained a lot of hate after the video came out. 

'Shame on you ESPN'

"Thank you @AllisonW_Sports for standing up for bodily autonomy and medical freedom. Shame on @ESPN for requiring an experimental jab that does not stop the transmission of SarsCov2 virus to stay emplyed. These are not vaccines, they are at best a therapeutic," a tweet read. "Why wouldn’t pregnancy or attempting to conceive fall under a medical exemption? Shame on @espn Best wishes to Allison Williams it's a shame that ESPN hate women so much," a second tweeted. "@AllisonW_Sports Proud of you for standing ground and not being forced to get the shot. Shame on #ESPN and #Disney for not granting your accommodation," tweeted a third.