When former ESPN President John Skipper resigned in December, shock waves rippled through the sports network.
But this week, The Hollywood Reporter’s James Andrew Miller [revealed](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/john-skipper-details-espn-exit-cocaine-extortion-plot-1094657) that behind that departure was a cocaine extortion plot, just adding to the disbelief.
No one Miller spoke to “saw any kind of indication that he had been using,” the reporter told Cheddar Friday. “There was just widespread shock.”
Even Skipper himself did not know he would resign when he did. That day “he woke up as president of ESPN, fully believing he was going to continue to be president of ESPN,” Miller explained.
But Skipper told him that he was “threatened concerning a purchase of cocaine” by an unidentified person.
After revealing this to Bob Iger, CEO at Disney, which owns ESPN, Skipper resigned, leaving behind a company he had worked at for almost three decades.
During his time as president, Skipper led the company’s aggressive push to secure long-term agreements with sports leagues to cover live events.
But the network has been losing subscribers for years, and its outlook even under Skipper was already murky.
Miller said ESPN is now “straddling two eras.”
“It’s got one foot in this unbelievably successful past, and it’s got another foot in a very, very uncertain future because of cord-cutting and rising programming costs.
“There’s a lot more uncertainties about what ESPN will be like five or ten years from now than there probably ever has been in its history.”
For the full interview, click [here](https://cheddar.com/videos/inside-john-skippers-abrupt-departure-from-espn).
Jamil Jaffer, Founder and Executive Director of the National Security Institute, joined Cheddar to discuss the concern surrounding Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai's disappearance following a social media post accusing a former high-ranking Chinese official of sexual assault.
Carlo and Baker cover the latest developments with the Omicron variant, and break down what we know and what we still don't. Plus, a relatively tame Black Friday, and more.
Dan Kilbridge, Bookies.com sports betting expert, and Cam Rogers, Host of 'Lock It In with Cam Rogers' and betting analyst at Bleav, tackle top matchups across the NFL and college football this coming weekend.
Sponsored by BetMGM
BetMGM host Olivia Harlan Dekker joins Cheddar Bets to break down the Thanksgiving Day football games and present her Weekend Portfolio of picks.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Olivia Harlan Dekker gives her top plays for Thursday's Thanksgiving NFL games while Dan Kilbridge and Cam Rogers tackle top matchups across the NFL and college football this coming weekend.
Sponsored by BetMGM
The New Jersey Devils are debuting its newest jersey option, only the third uniform in the NHL team's history. Jillian Frechette, SVP of marketing for the Devils, joined Cheddar to talk about the inspiration behind the new-look hockey sweater, the contributions to the design by Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur, and what it means for the Garden State, home to the franchise since the team moved from Colorado in 1982. The jersey launched in stores on Tuesday and players will begin wearing them beginning December 8 as the Devils approach the 40th anniversary in New Jersey.
NFL Hall of Famer and "Good Morning America" host Michael Strahan will be able to add space travel to his list of accomplishments as he prepares to launch into orbit with the next Blue Origin mission.
On this episode of Cheddar Bets, BetMGM Host Olivia Harlan Dekker breaks down the biggest NFL action for Week 11; Jared Smith, sports betting analyst from Pickswise, breaks down the biggest games of the college football weekend, including those that put Ohio State and Oregon's Playoff spots on the line; Ben Stinar, NBA reporter for Fastbreak on FanNation, provides one-month-in overreactions and underreactions to some of the NBA betting lines.
Sponsored by BetMGM
