ESPN
Following comments that Pat McAfee made on his Instagram about the “old white people at ESPN,” sources inside the network are now saying that some of those people — executives, producers, etc. — are “fed up with his diva-like behavior” at the network.
Earlier this week, Pat McAfee took to his Instagram Story to vent some frustations, as he shared a collage of negative comments about his presence on College Gameday, alongside the photos of the people who left them — with all of them being older white people.
According to McAfee, much of the negative feedback he gets comes from “old white people” and “old ESPN people,” which are often one in the same. Despite this, though Front Office Sports reports that McAfee has the backing of three “old white people” at the company: ESPN’s president of content Burke Magnus; ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro; and Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger.
“If you think about old white people and old ESPN people, those are really the people that hate me the most at this stage of life,” McAfee said in his rant.
“Now granted, there’s some other groups that certainly have threatened my life on a pretty regular basis, I’d say they hate me too. But throughout the entirety, old whites and the old ESPN people over the last like three years have really hated me. That’s who all the producers are of GameDay too. So now — it’s been a fun run. College football is great. OK, cheers. Have a great day.”
ESPN producers reportedly feel like Pat McAfee can act like an “entitled diva,” one tells him to “shut up”
In a new report from Front Office Sports, sources within ESPN blasted McAfee’s comments as “totally unnecessary” while also telling him to “grow up.”
“’Totally unnecessary. Grow up and talk to these people to make it better. You are not a victim. Everyone is bending over backwards to put you in a good position—and these same people are incentivized for you to succeed.’ Another was more blunt, complaining McAfee sometimes acts like an entitled diva.'” [via Front Office Sports]
Given McAfee’s willingness to publicly call out his detractors, even his bosses, on his radio show, it’s likely this is not the last time there’s a shot across the bow in this war of words.