Real reason ESPN pres. stepped down revealed - 'put me and my family at risk'
When former ESPN president John Skipper stepped down from his role at the sports giant in December, many people were left wondering what was behind his abrupt departure.
Now, his reasons are a bit more clear, as Skipper revealed in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he was being extorted by someone from whom he had bought cocaine.
Skipper, 62, claimed in the interview that he was not a daily user of cocaine, and that he never used at work.
“I had a substance abuse problem. I grew up wanting to be countercultural. I worked at Rolling Stone for the first 10 years of my professional life,” he said. “I had a point of view that recreational drugs were recreational, that they weren’t dangerous. That they could be used without repercussions.”
But Skipper would learn that there can indeed be repercussions to even recreational drug use.
He indicated he always tried to be cautious when buying and using drugs, but “not this time. It turned out I wasn’t careful this time.”
“In December, someone from whom I bought cocaine attempted to extort me,” Skipper said, adding that he was concerned about the risk posed to his family. After talking it over with Disney CEO Bob Iger, he eventually realized that his only option was to resign.
“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,” Skipper said.
“I foreclosed that possibility by disclosing the details to my family, and then when I discussed it with Bob, he and I agreed that I had placed the company in an untenable position and as a result, I should resign,” he added.
Skipper went on to note that his resignation had nothing to do with any allegations of sexual misconduct, and that any “rumors and speculations” to the contrary are “categorically and definitively untrue.”
“There were no affairs or inappropriate relationships at work nor indiscretions other than what I have disclosed,” he said. “My behavior relative to women at ESPN was always respectful. I did not touch anybody inappropriately. I did not tell off-color jokes. I treated everybody with respect.”
In the wake of his resignation, Skipper has received therapy for his drug problem. Though it hasn’t been “easy,” it’s given him the opportunity for some “reflection.”
“I did get some therapy. I did go through treatment. I thought the best thing to do was to take the time to check myself into a facility, and I was able to understand a bit more about substance use and to think about how it intersected with my life,” he said.
Skipper even suggested that he hopes to one day return to the media industry.
“Right now, I enjoy the great luxury of time and being able to only do things I want to do, with people I want to do them with,” Skipper said.
“But I find myself impatient. I’d like to get back in and do some things that matter. I’d like to work with some people who are doing exciting things. I think, when you step back, I was in the maelstrom of a day-to-day job in which I was concerned about trying to get things done every minute, and it was an extraordinarily large job. Now, as I take time to look at the world of sports and media and things I care about —basketball and soccer and culture and media — there are a lot of really fun things to do.”
“I don’t think it will take the form of a large corporate job, managing a lot of people and running a big company,” he said of his next job. “I think it will take the form of helping a few smart people; people I like and respect and who do things that matter.”
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