Pat McAfee Accuses ESPN Executive of Attempting to Sabotage His Show
The partnership between ESPN and Pat McAfee is less than six months old, but things are already starting to look tenuous.
McAfee recently found himself in hot water after guest Aaron Rodgers publically insinuated that Jimmy Kimmel was a friend of Jeffrey Epstein.
Kimmel fired back on social media, saying:
“I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any “list” other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality. Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”
Kimmel and McAfee both share the Walt Disney Company as a parent company, making the feud all the more awkward.
McAfee Lashes Out At ESPN Exec
While McAfee apologized for Rodgers’s comments, on his subsequent show, the sports media star took aim at ESPN officials on Friday.
During the opening of the streaming-exclusive final hour of The Pat McAfee Show, the host bluntly stated that he believed ESPN Head of Event and Studio Production Norby Williamson was trying to sabotage his show.
“There are folks actively trying to sabotage us from within ESPN,” McAfee said. “More specifically, I believe Norby Williamson is the guy attempting to sabotage our program.”
McAfree’s comments came following a New York Post article indicating that the host’s ratings were not good enough to put up with the controversy he generates.
Is Norby Williamson Leaking Information?
McAfee accused Williamson of leaking wrong information to damage the show.
“That is seemingly the only human that has information, and then somehow that information gets leaked and it’s wrong and then it sets a narrative of what our show is,” McAfee added. “And then are we just going to combat that from a rat every single time?”
McAfee went on to explain what he believed Williamson was trying to accomplish.
“Somebody tried to get ahead of our actual ratings release with wrong numbers 12 hours beforehand,” McAfee said. “That’s a sabotage attempt, and it’s been happening … from some people who didn’t necessarily love the old addition of The Pat McAfee Show to the ESPN family.”
As it turns out, McAfee and Williamson had crossed paths before.
“That guy left me in his office for 45 minutes, no-showed me in 2018,” McAfee said. “So that guy has had no respect for me, and in return same thing to him, for a long time.”
Can ESPN and McAfee Co-Exist
The relationship between the straight-laced and often liberal-leaning ESPN and the free-wheeling, somewhate controversial Pat McAfee was always fraught with peril.
Time will tell whether or not ESPN will decide that the pros of adding the mega-popular McAfee will outweigh the cons. However, I think it safe to say that things are not off to a great start.
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