ESPN has reportedly fired two of its most prominent on-air personalities, Samantha Ponder and Robert Griffin III.
On Thursday afternoon, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported: X ESPN fired Ponder and RGIII in a cost-cutting move.
ESPN has laid off hundreds of employees in the past. Several years This is part of a larger restructuring effort, but Marchand noted that Ponder and Griffin appear to be the only employees being let go this year.
Griffin, a former Heisman Trophy winner who spent several seasons in the NFL, most notably with the Washington Redskins, joined the network in 2021 with two years remaining on his contract.
He was recently demoted from his role on “Monday Night Countdown.” New York Post.
Griffin also seems to be taking the news in stride, X In a short, humorous clip from the film Friday, the character Willie Jones asks his son Craig, “How in the world does it happen that you get fired on your day off?”
“She has the wrong political stance, and cutting her salary will free up cap space for ESPN to pay Stephen A. Smith a big salary.”
Ponder’s firing comes as a bigger surprise: She had been with the network since 2011, working as a sideline reporter, appearing frequently on the popular show “College GameDay” and eventually hosting “Sunday Night Countdown.”
But she has also repeatedly criticized the infiltration of men into sports and teams for women and girls.
“What’s happening to women in sports is insane,” Ponder said. Tweeted April 2023. “And anyone with common sense knows that.”
A month later, she voiced support for those who felt pressured to stay silent about the issue for “fear of losing their jobs or being accused of hateful behavior.”
“Calling for fairness in women’s sports is not hateful.”
Many now believe that Ponder “lost her job” because she called for “fairness in women’s sports.” Terrible announcement She noted that ESPN has “increasingly strayed” from asking its on-air personalities to “stay focused on sports.”
Riley Gaines The departure of former “SportsCenter” co-host Sage Steele also led to a discussion, noting that the global sports leader no longer has a woman who wants to keep women’s sports just for women.
“ESPN just fired @samponder, the only woman at the network who publicly stated that men don’t belong in women’s sports, 3 weeks before football season,” Gaines wrote.Sam is one of the most beautiful and genuine women I have ever met. Follow They suffered a similar fate… It’s no coincidence.”
OutKick’s Bobby Black agreed, telling The Blaze News that it makes no sense for ESPN to fire Ponder, described as ESPN’s “lead NFL host,” just three weeks before the start of the NFL season just to save a few bucks.
“Keep in mind, Sam Ponder was the only woman left at ESPN who publicly rejected the idea that men should be celebrated for calling themselves ‘transgender’ and competing against women in women’s sports,” Black told The Blaze News.
BlazeTV’s “Fearless” told The Blaze-News that Ponder’s “politics” almost certainly influenced the decision.
“There are many factors that led ESPN to fire Sam Ponder,” Whitlock told The Blaze News, “She had the wrong political stance, and cutting her salary would allow ESPN to free up cap space to pay Stephen A. Smith a higher salary.”
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