Many ESPN employees took to the air or social media to express their thoughts about the sudden resignation of network President John Skipper due to substance addiction issues. ESPN’s Bob Ley said, “John Skipper leaves with the good wishes from so many for his personal well-being from so many people that work with him” (“OTL,” ESPN, 12/18). Jemele Hill wrote, “John Skipper is one of the finest people I’ve ever worked for. He’s been incredibly supportive throughout my career at ESPN. This isn’t company-speak. I seriously cannot express how much respect I have for him.” T.J. Quinn wrote, “John Skipper is a major reason ESPN is so committed to investigative journalism and longform storytelling. We've always known he had our backs. I'm deeply grateful and wish him well” (TWITTER.com, 12/18).
A clearly emotional Dan Le Batard was hosting his ESPN Radio show when Skipper’s announcement came down, and he struggled to maintain his composure live on air while reading the internal memo Skipper sent to ESPN employees. Le Batard said, “This person has created everything that exists here at ESPN for us. He did it because of how he cares about minorities and their causes. And so every success that we’ve had -- I didn’t want to work for ESPN; I wanted to work for this man -- and I’m just sort of shocked and hurt and scared. Not for anything material. Just scared because I want him to be okay. Because this is not gonna be a fun storm, whatever comes next after this” (“The Dan Le Batard Show,” ESPN Radio, 12/18).
