Bill Simmons apologizes for dissing ESPN talent
Bill Simmons put his foot in his mouth Wednesday over a disparaging comment about his former colleagues at ESPN.
In a Hollywood Reporter cover story published online earlier in the day, the patriarch of Boston sports fandom discussed his rough breakup with ESPN.
He didn’t hold much back. In the process, he took a shot at the network’s talent.
“They’ve now gotten rid of everybody who is a little off the beaten path,” he said. “Ask yourself this: ‘Who would work there that you respect right now?'”
Simmons walked those words back on Instagram, calling himself a “jackass” and naming several ESPN employees who he called “great and talented.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGZ49ZjidL7/?taken-by=sptguy33
Over the course of more than a decade at the Disney-owned media giant, Simmons morphed from the “Boston Sports Guy” to the massively popular creator of the documentary series “30 for 30” and the boutique sports and pop culture website Grantland.
After a dispute between Simmons and ESPN management, the network unceremoniously announced his contract would not be renewed last year. He learned of the decision through Twitter — which he wasn’t pleased about it, he told the Hollywood Reporter in expletive-laced terms.
Though ESPN at first said it would keep Grantland up and running, it eventually shuttered the site a few months later.
Simmons recently launched his new website, The Ringer, and is also working with HBO. His new weekly HBO show, Any Given Wednesday, will debut this month.
You can read the Hollywood Reporter piece here.
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