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ESPN's Ryan Clark on the set of NFL Monday Night Countdown
Earlier this week, ESPN laid off several on-air talents in a move that chairman Jimmy Pitaro claimed was a cost-cutting measure after the company’s acquisition of the NFL Network.
Perhaps the most notable name on the list of layoffs was NFL Live and Monday Night Countdown analyst Ryan Clark, who had become one of the most polarizing figures on the network.
Clark was just one of nearly a dozen people laid off by the company in a move that Pitaro claimed was largely tied to the acquisition.
However, his phrasing in an internal memo is now something worth keeping an eye on.
“While most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted,” Pitaro said
Note that Pitaro said that “most,” not “all,” of the job impacts were tied to the acquisition.
Clark believes he was one of the exceptions, and he says it’s due to the fact that he regularly spoke up on behalf of black athletes during his time at ESPN.
Ryan Clark Believes He Was Unfairly Fired For Defending Black Athletes
Clark recently appeared back on “The Pivot” podcast and said that he had censored himself in the last year to avoid angering ESPN executives.
“You know, man, like this show for three years, bro, we never shied away from any topic,” Clark said. “We never shied away from tackling anything. We did this year because I knew I couldn’t have no beef. I knew I couldn’t respond to disrespect. I knew, for lack of a better word, I knew I couldn’t be too Black.”
Clark then pointed specifically to his defenses of Kyren Lacy and Angel Reese as things that angered specific higher-ups within the network, which eventually led to his ousting.
“This was a dictatorship. A person, or group of persons, very small group, they didn’t the poll majority,” Clark said of the decision to have him fired. “Because if you ask that question, you have to say ‘Even though you just told me just how important he was, I don’t care … I know how important you think he is. And you work with him every day. I don’t care how important you think he is. I don’t like him. People like me don’t like him.'”
Whether or not that’s the truth, it’s clear that it’s what Clark believes.