Malika Andrews has had a complicated relationship with some viewers of ESPN. That relationship has included a stalker, whom she was forced to take a restraining order out on recently.
According to Andrews, a man has been threateningly contacting her and other ESPN on-air talent such as “First Take” hosts Molly Qerim and Stephen A. Smith.
Based on court documents, according to TMZ, a 41-year-old man named Ahmed Abubakar from New Jersey has terrorized Andrews and her colleagues during the past year. The harassment began with messages on social media platform X in September 2022, which would have the name Twitter at the time.
Stalking Gone Wild
The initially non-threatening behavior evolved into threatening behavior quickly, and he reportedly even got ahold of her unlisted phone number during the summer and attempted to call her multiple times.
Even worse, police arrested Abubakar in August for allegedly coming unannounced to Molly Qerim’s Connecticut home.
Andrews filed a temporary restraining order request, noting that Abubakar had also recently traveled to ESPN’s Los Angeles offices to contact her and the “First Take” co-hosting team, which evoked more fear for her safety.
The temporary restraining order asks a judge to order Abubakar to stay at least 100 yards away from her other broadcast co-workers mentioned earlier and her fiancé, ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin. The court agreed, and Andrews was granted the order only hours after the filing, with a hearing scheduled for later in the month.
The Polarization Of Andrews
Although the exact reasoning why Abubakar has targeted Andrews and her on-air colleagues is unclear, in the past Andrews has taken criticism for her treatment of certain storylines.
Andrews has been a polarizing figure covering basketball for the network. Many have felt she delivered negative narratives about Black men in sports.
This includes in 2022, when Andrews spoke on the then-interim head coach for the Boston Celtics, Joe Mazzulla, in terms of his time as a basketball player at West Virginia University, where he was arrested twice.
In 2009, Mazzulla was arrested for suspicion of domestic battery for allegedly grabbing a woman by the neck at a bar and again for underage drinking in 2008. Andrews brought it up as he was replacing disgraced former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka.
As one of the faces of ESPN, Andrews has her share of fans and haters, but none have the right to cross the line regardless of their adoration or issues with her.
