Pat McAfee isn't backing down.
And he wants to make it clear who he likes and who he doesn't like on ESPN.
McAfee on Friday on his “Pat McAfee Show” accused people at ESPN of trying to sabotage him and his show, especially editor-in-chief and head of production at Event Studio Norby Williamson. He showed off what he had done and made headlines.
He addressed the matter for the first time on Monday, standing by his sentiments.
“I'm sure there are people we don't like,” McAfee said on Monday's show. “And they don't like us. It will be that way, and I won't take back what I said about that person.”
McAfee later added, “We all understand what the future holds, but there are just some old ladies who potentially don't.”
McAfee called Williamson, one of ESPN's longest-serving employees since he joined the company in 1985, a “rat” and accused him of leaking false ratings information to damage the program. It was suggested that it was.
“There are people within ESPN who are actively trying to sabotage us,” McAfee said on Friday's show. “Specifically, I believe it's Norby Williamson who is trying to sabotage our programming. ” he said.
“Right now, we're not 100 percent sure. It seems like they're the only ones with the information, but then that information gets leaked and it's false and that's what our show is about.” Set up a story.
“So, are we just going to fight rats every time? Someone tried to pre-empt the release of the actual ratings by using the wrong numbers 12 hours in advance. That's sabotage. It's an old addition to the ESPN family. It's been happening this entire season from some people who didn't necessarily like “The Pat McAfee Show.” There are many such things. ”
McAfee made it clear Monday that the relationship between his show and ESPN remains strong and that there are many executives with whom he has good relationships.
“The only thing I'm really sorry about about all of this is that the guy we like so much, the guy we used to watch the games with in the suite, [president of content] Burke Magnus is now the new head of ESPN, just under [chairman] Jimmy Pitaro. I think he felt bad in a way because of what I did and the way I did it,” McAfee said.
“I just want to tell you guys, we love Burke Magnus. We love Burke Magnus. And we love Jimmy Pitarou. Love. [Disney CEO] Bob Iger. But here there is quite a transition between old and new. And old people don't like what new people are doing. ”
Mr. McAfee's attack on Mr. Williamson comes amid major drama on his show and on ESPN.
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who receives more than $1 million a year from the show for his weekly appearances, said earlier last week that ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel had sex with a convicted pedophile. It was suggested that he would be included on the criminal's list of associates. The criminal is Jeffrey Epstein.
Kimmel was not on the list, and ESPN later apologized for allowing him to speak on the air.
“Aaron made a stupid and factually inaccurate joke about Jimmy Kimmel,” ESPN said in a statement Friday. “That should never have happened. We all realized that at that moment.”
