Congressmen Rip Dana White’s Power Slap In Open Letter To TBS

Two U.S. Congressmen have had enough of Dana White’s Power Slap league and TBS giving it a platform.

Bill Pascrell Jr. of New Jersey and Don Bacon of Nebraska penned an open letter to TBS ripping Power Slap for “glorifying terrible violence” and saying “traumatic brain injury isn’t entertainment.”

The letter really hammers home the dangers of head trauma and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Today @RepDonBacon and I are asking TBS and Warner Bros about their crass new TV show “The Power Slap” glorifying terrible violence.

Where are the warnings to this mindless violence? Traumatic brain injury isn’t entertainment. pic.twitter.com/LIWGWtvm2s

— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) February 15, 2023

The letter outlines three bullet points:

• Does your program run a disclaimer at the beginning and end of each episode of Power Slap detailing the impacts of concussions, repeated head trauma, and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?
• Do participants have access to comprehensive, long-term, and free brain monitoring programs, including a designated fund to cover health care costs? This should include baseline testing to include vision and hearing, an overall health assessment, and a magnetic resonance image scan. If so, are they compensated for these expenses? If not, please explain.
• Please detail how the show informs all participants, in writing, about the dangers of concussions and repetitive brain injury including how their participation in Power Slap events exposes them to possible long-term effects that may not be evident for many years.

“From what we can tell. The Power Slap capitalizes on violent behavior and lurid drama masquerading as athletic prowess for profit. Participants are subject to sudden and powerful blows to the head and face causing ‘rotational acceleration,’ a primary cause of concussion and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE),” the letter states. “In recent years a large body of evidence has established CTE as a direct cause of memory decline, impaired cognition, depression, impulsive behavior, suicidal ideations, parkinsonism, and dementia.”

Here’s our letter demanding answers from @warnerbros @TBSNetwork on their violent new TV show glorifying traumatic brain injury risks. pic.twitter.com/MV4rruLv6a

— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) February 15, 2023

“In exchange for endangering their mental and physical health, participants are offered a paltry $2,000 and optional cursory screening from Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Power Slap participants may not demonstrate immediate injury, but the unnecessary damage caused to their brain will have long lasting and disastrous consequences. Endeavor Production, TBS, and UFC appear to have created and profited off a deadly television show, with significant reach and impact, without implementing basic and commonsense protocols.”

Both Pascrell and Bacon are members of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, with Pascrell as the founder and Bacon as the co-chairman.