Former ESPN president John Skipper finally addressed his abrupt departure from the WorldWide Leader in an interview Thursday. His explanation has some holes.
When Skipper resigned in December, he said he was going to seek help for substance abuse. The timing was curious, considering he issued a companywide address about the future of ESPN just five days earlier. The previous month, Skipper inked a three-year extension with the network.
Skipper told the Hollywood Reporter he was a recreational cocaine user during his time in Bristol, but was adamant his habit didn't affect his work –– outside of some missed flights and cancelled morning meetings. Interviewer James Andrew Miller pressed Skipper on his admission, asking why he didn't just take a leave of absence to sort himself out. That's when Skipper said an extortion plot from a cocaine dealer prompted his decision to step down suddenly.
"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.
According to Skipper, he told Disney CEO Bob Iger about the blackmail attempt, and decided resigning was his only option.
Skipper's extreme action infers the extortion attempt was serious. That draws into question whether there was more at play, since Skipper says he was just a casual cocaine user.
It's also unknown whether Skipper reported the alleged extortion attempt to authorities. Under U.S. law, extortion is a felony in all 50 states. Former late-night host David Letterman notified law enforcement about an extortion threat against him in 2009.
If Skipper didn't report the crime, additional questions get raised as well.
Though Skipper is vague about his admitted cocaine use, he insists he was not dismissed for workplace harassment.
"Those rumors and speculations are categorically and definitively untrue," he said. "There were no such incidents at work during my entire tenure, including no allegations. I did not traffic in that kind of activity. The company is not engaged in any actions on my behalf and never has been. There were no affairs or inappropriate relationships at work nor indiscretions other than what I have disclosed. 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. The principle reason I chose to write the statement I wrote — to disclose substance abuse — was to make it clear that this didn't have anything to do with harassment, settled lawsuits or any internal indiscretions. I never had any relationships, even consensual adult relationships, with anybody at work. And as far as I know, there was never a single claim of one."
