Author: Laura Wagner / Source: Deadspin
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, former ESPN president John Skipper elaborated on the “substance abuse” issue that he had previously said caused his resignation from the network last December. In the interview, Skipper said someone who sold him cocaine (Skipper described this person as a “strange source” from whom he had not previously purchased drugs) tried to extort him, so he decided, in coordination with Disney CEO Bob Iger, to step down.
The interview, conducted by ESPN historian Jim Miller, reads as staged and slightly obsequious at points, but it nevertheless provides insight into and gives a timeline for Skipper’s mysterious resignation, which came days after he led an all-staff meeting, and months after his
But for all the soul-baring—“I hurt my family, particularly my wife, and I forfeited a great job”—questions remain. Did Skipper’s cocaine habit, which was established enough that he was willing to risk his security to get it from an unknown source, really not affect his work at all? Skipper claims it didn’t while simultaneously admitting that his habit led to “a missed plane and a few canceled morning appointments.”
Skipper isn’t the first person in sports or media to have a problem with cocaine, which makes it hard to understand why Iger didn’t have him take a leave of absence (the head of Disney and Pixar animation was granted a six-month leave of absence in November after being accused of harassing women, which is objectively worse than using cocaine.) Was the extortion attempt simply about the purchase of cocaine, or did something else happen that night?
There are questions about the interview, too: Why didn’t Miller ask Skipper about who extorted him? Why didn’t Miller ask Skipper to clarify the frequency of his “quite infrequent” drug use? Why didn’t Skipper, still…
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