“I Was Going Crazy”: Charles Barkley Seethes Over TNT Employer After Confronted by Stephen Colbert for COVID Beef

TNT has creative ways to annoy Charles Barkley. This time they nearly kickstarted a feud between Stephen Colbert and their star NBA analyst. The cause is almost four years old too. That’s about how long it took for Chuck to return to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Only a couple of days after his appearance on the show, Barkley had a COVID-19 scare. And he gave that scare to the late night personality too. The only way for Chuck to absolve himself of the blame was to pin it on TNT. It isn’t the first time he’s done it.

TNT scarred Charles Barkley

The last time Sir Charles was on The Late Show was on March 10, 2020. He returned this week, accompanied with his King Charles co-host, Gayle King. Right away, Stephen Colbert said he was mad at Chuck for the fright he gave him last time. If you recall that dark period in recent history, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country a couple of days after that show aired. Right away, Barkley disclosed that he may have been exposed to the virus.

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Barkley self-quarantined and so did Colbert and his family. But, “we called you every day for 11 days and you never called back.” Back then, Barkley was quick to announce he tested negative for the virus but he defended himself from ghosting allegations.

“TNT has the worst medical staff,” he said out of the blue. It confused both King and Colbert but he doubled down. “They sent me to the doctors, I was stuck in my condo for 10 days, it took them 10 days to get to me the results.”

Barkley may have a history of not responding to phone calls. This time though, everyone from Mike Trout to Patrick Ewing who had met him, were calling him to verify if he exposed them to the virus. King asked why didn’t he call them back. The answer was simple. “Because I didn’t know the results.”

He used that chance to vent his frustrations about TNT. “I was going crazy, I was stuck in the condo for 10 days, I had to order room service, I couldn’t leave. I said ‘Y’all sent me to the worst damn hospital in the history of civilization,'” he harped about his 10-day quarantine with no idea about his results. This isn’t even the first time he’s blamed mishaps in his friendships on TNT.

Who’s at fault? Chuck or TNT?

TNT was also responsible for organizing the surprise for Ernie Johnson when he was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. But once again, they managed to irk the 1993 NBA MVP.

Barkley vented on The Steam Room, “TNT are a bunch of dummies,“ for putting him, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith in the same hotel as Ernie. So, before the three of them could surprise The Godfather as the secret presenters on stage, he ended up running into Chuck at the hotel.

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The surprise was not completely ruined. This time too Colbert graciously forgave Barkley. But King highlighted some of the blame lies with Chuck. She pointed out that the NBA legend has a history of not responding to calls including her own. And he didn’t have the sense to call the hospital about his results too.

It’s resolved between these friends. But who do you think carries most of the blame for an almost-feud here – Chuck or TNT?