Charles Barkley — the inimitable hoops commentator, jester, social justice advocate and basketball hall of famer — just signed a new deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, even though he had three years left on his current deal. Warner apparently looked around and said, hey we’d better lock up Chuck.
With so many competing platforms trying to keep viewers tuning in, there has never been a better time to be the talent. (See Tom Brady‘s post football media deal for example, thought to be worth $375 million.)
Charles Barkley has a new Warner Bros. Discovery contract despite three years left, will appear on non-sports properties https://t.co/0sE6PUhJul pic.twitter.com/XenrlknyKF
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 12, 2022
But Barkley is truly unique among his media peers for a different reason, too. He has managed to avoid being a social media presence, which is pretty much a requirement for anybody else in media.
Negotiating a big contract? Surely you’ll be asked about your “follower count.”
Barkley’s answer is easy. Zero. No followers. Indeed, Barkley may be the biggest star in the media firmament who continues to ignore social media. Sure, some movie stars eschew Twitter, but hardly anyone in the commenting business can afford to.
Take Barkley’s TNT studio mate Shaquille O’Neal — the big fella has been tweeting practically since the platform launched — and he’s on the others, too, from Instagram to TikTok. Not Chuck. That’s extra work — and what for? He’s already got what he needs, and the brass keeps giving him more. And he’s having fun, which is contagious. Let somebody else post about it.
