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).
Less than five weeks after the conference announced it would push football and other fall sports to spring because of the pandemic, the conference changed course.
Arthur Blank, Atlanta Falcons owner and Home Depot co-founder, joined Cheddar to discuss business values beyond making a profit and the NFL's stance on racial inequality issues today.
The 2020 men's tennis U.S. Open champion, Dominic Thiem, joined Cheddar to discuss his very first Grand Slam title victory. Thiem made history as the first man to come back from two sets down to win at the U.S. Open.
Lou Harris, the founding member of Black Surfing Association Rockaway, offer free surfing lessons to all kids to teach them how to love the water. The national non-profit was founded in California in 1975 to introduce surfing to more African Americans.
Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's executive vice president of club business and league events, talked to Cheddar about the league's new approach to racial inequality issues this year.
The University of Maryland's head football coach, Mike Locksley, joined Cheddar to discuss a new initiative he started, aimed at getting minority coaches elevated to the next level in their careers. The National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches is backed by current and former coaches as well as executives.
Actress and director, Eva Longoria joined Cheddar to discuss her role in establishing the the NWSL's newest team, Angel City as she fights for equal pay in the sport. Longoria also discusses her experience hosting night one of the Democratic National Convention.
Anti-gun violence activist, Manny Oliver, joined Cheddar to discuss an initiative he started following the death of his son, Joaquin, in the Parkland massacre.
Matt Kalish, president of sports betting company DraftKings, talked to Cheddar about NBA legend Michael Jordan joining as an adviser to the company's board.
NBA all-star Jrue Holiday is working to combat systemic racism by donating his remaining salary. The New Orleans Pelicans guard is working with Resilia, a technology platform, to track his donations and ensure change is really happening.
