Former ESPN MLB Reporter Marly Rivera Offers Statement Following Firing

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The sports media world got rocked with a surprise move Wednesday when ESPN parted ways with MLB reporter Marly Rivera.

Rivera began her career with ESPN Deportes before being named a New York Yankees beat writer.

She became an essential part of the network’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast and had become a major part of its MLB coverage as a whole.

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that Rivera was let go firing an incident involving Ivon Gaete, who is married to MLB vice president of communications John Blundell.

“ESPN national baseball reporter Marly Rivera has been fired after an incident at Yankee Stadium in which she uttered the words, “f****** c***” toward a fellow female reporter over an Aaron Judge interview,” Marchand reported.

Rivera alleged that she had previously scheduled an interview with Judge but Gaete ignored her. She also claimsto have apologized to Gaete, though Gaete declined the apology.

Now Rivera is speaking out. Though she’s taking full responsibility in the process.

“I fully accept responsibility for what I said, which I should not have. There were extenuating circumstances, but that in no way is an excuse for my actions,” Rivera said according to Marchand. “I am a professional with a sterling reputation across baseball, and I do believe that I am being singled out by a group of individuals with whom I have a long history of professional disagreements.”

Without having first-hand knowledge of the situation, it’s impossible to say whether or not ESPN’s move was justified. But what we can say is that it’s usually not a great idea to insult people who have a lot of power to affect your job status.

Rivera has since disabled her social media accounts and her biography on the ESPN website is no longer active.