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Pat McAfee has broken his silence about the ESPN layoffs.
On Friday, ESPN suffered a brutal wave of layoffs of some of their top on-air personalities were let go in a cost-cutting move.
Included in the layoffs were several high-profile names such as Jeff Van Gundy, Suzy Kolber, Jalen Rose, Steve Young, Keyshawn Johnson, and Max Kellerman.
𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭: ESPN is firing 20 on-air personalities today, per @AndrewMarchand
Notable personalities such as Max Kellerman, Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams, Steve Young and Suzy Kolber are among those also considered to be at risk.
More here:https://t.co/rk5lKslW4E pic.twitter.com/X4WJFV3tlj
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 30, 2023
According to the NY Post, ESPN believes the layoffs will save them money and allow them to keep some behind-the-scenes people.
Via NY Post
The hope is by cutting those making in excess of seven figures per year, ESPN would be able to save more behind-the-scenes people.
McAfee, who recently signed a 5-year $85 million deal with ESPN, faced backlash after fans blamed him for the ESPN layoffs.
ESPN out here firing Jalen Rose, Keyshawn Johnson, Jeff Van Gundy and Max Kellerman to clear all that cap space for Pat McAfee, it’s an evil world we live in.
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) June 30, 2023
I don’t know a single person who enjoys Pat McAfee, ESPN firing so many great employees just to overpay for a glorified frat bro is one of the most baffling business decisions i’ve ever seen
— Hoodie Maybin (@HoodieMaybin) June 30, 2023
On Friday night, McAfee posted a heartfelt message on Twitter reacting to the backlash he received on social media.
“Built on stone.
I did a lot of reflecting about our show’s journey while I was getting murdered on the internet today (hell yeah).. all roads lead back to how honored I am to be the leader of such a talented group and how lucky I am to be a part of this team (a few missing from pics and a couple I couldn’t tag)… We do our thing. We enjoy ourselves. And we never blink… Basement, box truck, world stoppage.. you name it.. the show rolls on
We’re very pumped to be joining ESPN and our goal is that “Mass exits” are never a thing again.. we hope to help that.. obviously that’s a lofty goal but, that’s how I truly look at life… I wish we could’ve worked alongside a lot of the folks that got released today. Some absolute legends, that we all respect, in the sports media world were trending today for losing jobs. That sucks.. no matter how you slice it.
We’re gonna continue to control the things we can control.. try to do daily sports coverage in an entertaining and informative fashion.. and be thankful for all of the opportunities that have been earned thru a lot of hard work and commitment from the group of dudes I get to call coworkers.
Have an incredible weekend.”
Built on stone.
I did a lot of reflecting about our show’s journey while I was getting murdered on the internet today (hell yeah).. all roads lead back to how honored I am to be the leader of such a talented group and how lucky I am to be a part of this team (a few missing from… pic.twitter.com/DBj9eruKA1
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 1, 2023