ESPN Does 180 on Catholic Group's Christmas-Themed Jesus Ad After First Deeming It 'Problematic

Following public outcry on Thursday, ESPN tells TheBlaze it has reconsidered its position and will run a Christmas ad from the Cardinal Glennon Children's Foundation, which the network initially said failed to meet "commercial advocacy standards."

As TheBlaze's Billy Hallowell reported on Thursday, a spokesman with the Catholic organization said ESPN rejected their Christmas-themed commercial due to its mention of the "birth of Jesus" and "God's healing message."

However, following the public outcry, ESPN has now come to a different conclusion.

“We have again reviewed the ads submitted for the SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center and have concluded that we will accept the original requested commercial," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz told TheBlaze. "It will run in Saturday’s VCU at Northern Iowa basketball game on ESPNU.  This decision is consistent with our practice of individual review of all ads under our commercial advocacy standards."

The Cardinal Glennon Children's Foundation raises funds for its SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center, a Catholic institution in St. Louis, Mo.

Watch the ad below:

Read TheBlaze's original report on the controversy here.

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