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).
J&J Shelf Life, Pulse Nightclub Memorial, Consumer Prices Rise. Here is all the news you need to know for Friday, June 11, 2021.
The NFL will spend up to $1 million funding up to five studies that will examine how to better help players ease their pain and find alternatives to opioids.
Simone Biles looks ready for the Tokyo Olympics. The 24-year-old easily captured her record seventh U.S. national title, beating runner-up Sunisa Lee by nearly five points.
After teasing the Yurchenko double-pike for the better part of a year and then unveiling it during training on Friday — a move that caught the attention of people like NBA star LeBron James — Simone Biles made it official in front of the women trying to join her on the Olympic team this summer.
Blockfolio CEO Sam Bankman-Fried talked to Cheddar about garnering an endorsement deal with the Jacksonville Jaguar's first pick in the NFL Draft, QB Trevor Lawrence.
Catherine Carlson, a senior vice president with the Eagles, discussed the NFL team's partnership with LifeBrand, a brand protection firm specializing in social media health checks.
Justin and Taylor Norris, co-founders and CEOs of LIT Method, talked about the investment from Jay-Z in their fitness company.
As COVID vaccination numbers have increased in the U.S., Cheddar's Michelle Castillo visited the home of the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, as it welcomed back fans earlier this month.
NYC officials are beginning to rethink the layout of city streets as biking ticks up in the city. Now, thousands of bike racks are being installed across the city. Cheddar's Chloe Aiello reports.
Along with other celebrities, Venus Williams is partnering with Delos' International WELL Building Institute in order to safely welcome back fans and attendees to live events.
