Posted in: Disney+, Sports, TV | Tagged: disney, espn, pat mcafee

Pat McAfee Addresses ESPN Layoffs, Social Media Backlash & More

Pat McAfee took to social media to address the recent wave of ESPN layoffs and the backlash that he's been receiving over his new Disney deal.

Late last week, the news broke that approximately 20 ESPN on-air personalities were being cut as part of The Walt Disney Company's across-the-board series of layoffs & budget cuts as The Mouse worked towards $5.5B in overall cost savings. David Pollack, Jalen Rose, Jordan Cornette, Suzy Kolber, Max Kellerman, Jeff Van Gundy, Keyshawn Johnson, Matt Hasselbeck, Chris Chelios, Steve Young, Rob Ninkovich, Neil Everett, Ashley Brewer, Joon Lee, LaPhonso Ellis, Todd McShay, and Jason Fitz were the names that were confirmed by the end of the business day. The move comes a little more than a month after it was announced that multimedia host Pat McAfee had signed a new multi-year agreement with Disney that sees his multiplatform presence at ESPN expand in new ways. But the timing of McAfee being brought aboard with a multi-year deal not long before double-digit layoffs wasn't lost on social media sports fans – and McAfree's been hearing from them big time. So much so that McAfee took to Twitter to address the matter.

"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," McAfee shared in a tweet that included behind-the-scenes images from his show. He added, "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."

Along with The Pat McAfee Show moving to ESPN in the fall, McAfee will also contribute to ESPN's digital and social platforms. In addition, McAfee will continue his college football analyst role on ESPN's College GameDay Built by The Home Depot, and will also serve as host for a number of "alternate presentations" of ESPN college football telecasts (with some rumblings having McAfee inking an $85M/5-year deal).

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