ESPN was anticipated to put off 20 folks on Friday, together with family names like former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, boxing professional Max Kellerman, NFL sideline reporter Suzy Kolber and NBA star Jalen Rose.
Kolber confirmed she’s one of many on-air personalities The Hollywood Reporter mentioned was on the chopping block. “Today I join the many hard-working colleagues who have been laid off,” she tweeted Friday. “Heartbreaking – but 27 years at ESPN was a good run.”
Kolber expressed gratitude for the a long time she spent with the cable sports activities channel and mentioned she was “especially proud” to have achieved that as a lady largely protecting males’s sports activities.
Former Jets receiver Keyshawn Johnson was additionally reportedly handed his pink slip Friday.
“Given the current environment, ESPN has determined it necessary to identify some additional cost savings in the area of public-facing commentator salaries, and that process has begun,” ESPN mentioned in a press release. “This exercise will include a small group of job cuts in the short-term and an ongoing focus on managing costs when we negotiate individual contract renewals in the months ahead.”
The firm referred to as its cuts “an extremely challenging process” that was “based more on overall efficiency than merit.”
Kolber seemed to be first to publicly handle ESPN’s cuts on social media. Colleagues and supporters together with ESPN’s senior NFL analyst Adam Schefter expressed help for the 59-year-old professional.
“Suzy Kolber is a pioneer and a legend,” Shefter tweeted. “She, like others laid off today, always will be remembered and missed.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger mentioned in March the leisure firm, which owns ESPN, would start shedding staff in a number of phases to chop prices. ESPN quickly after knowledgeable workers the corporate can be impacted by these adjustments, in keeping with the Associated Press. It was reported {that a} spherical of dismissals impacting on-air expertise would happen over the summer season within the type of buyouts, cuts and contracts not being renewed.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com