WhatFinger


Dude

Whoa: ESPN president resigned after his cocaine dealer attempts to extort him



Whoa: ESPN president resigned after his cocaine dealer attempts to extort him, Dude You'll be tempted to say this proves just what a hotbed of iniquity ESPN really is, and then to tie that to all its advocacy of liberal politics. I'd resist that temptation, especially given what's happened recently within some conservative media organizations. John Skipper's departure from ESPN may have been resisted a little less by Disney if things were going well there, but if Bob Iger was open to his departure, this was the situation that sealed the deal:
John Skipper, the former president of ESPN who abruptly resigned in December citing a substance-abuse problem, says his decision to step down after more than 20 years at the company was prompted by an extortion attempt by a person from whom he purchased cocaine. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Skipper said he disclosed the situation to Bob Iger, chief executive of Walt Disney Co. , the majority owner of ESPN, on Friday, Dec. 15. His resignation, which he called a mutual decision at the time, was announced the following Monday. Reached by phone, Mr. Skipper confirmed the contents of the interview with the Hollywood Reporter and declined to comment further. A spokeswoman for Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. “In December, someone from whom I bought cocaine attempted to extort me,” Mr. Skipper said in the interview to the Hollywood Reporter. “They threatened me, and I understood immediately that threat put me and my family at risk, and this exposure would put my professional life at risk as well,” he said. “I foreclosed that possibility by disclosing the details to my family, and then when I discussed it with Bob [Iger], he and I agreed that I had placed the company in an untenable position and as a result, I should resign.”

Support Canada Free Press


I have no idea if Skipper is an addict per se, or merely one of millions of other reckless drug users for whom the habit becomes so intoxicating that you lose sight of the risks you're taking. On the one hand, you have to give Skipper credit for going to Iger and not trying to further cover up the situation. He probably realized it was going to cost him his job, although given the way things are going at ESPN, maybe he didn't see that as all that much of a downside. On the other hand, drug use is so reckless, irresponsible, pointless and stupid, it's hard to have any sympathy for an intelligent man with a great job and a massive salary who never the less puts his blessings up his nose - endangering his family, his career and himself. I'm not going to say I hope he "gets help," because I'm not of the opinion that drug use needs to be corrected or even can be corrected through rehab. If you do drugs, you have a spiritual corruption in your soul and you need the authority of Christ to make it right. I hope Skipper puts himself under that authority. As for ESPN, give the proliferation of boutique sports streaming services and the growing number or cord cutters, it may be too late to save this dead network walking. It would kind of be a shame, but time marches on, and to the extent ESPN did it to itself by choosing to take sides in the nation's political battles, it would be a fate well deserved.

Recommended by Canada Free Press



View Comments

Dan Calabrese -- Bio and Archives

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

Follow all of Dan’s work, including his series of Christian spiritual warfare novels, by liking his page on Facebook.


Sponsored