Ryan Clark is out at ESPN.
The former NFL veteran turned analyst had been with the Worldwide Leader in Sports for a decade. However, the former LSU Tigers defensive back is being laid off by the company. Clark was making around $2 million per year, according to The Athletic, which broke the news of his ousting.
Clark was reportedly told that he was being laid off during the middle of "NFL Live" on Monday. He did not finish the show.
"He was informed of the decision during the show, said the sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. Clark did not finish the program," The Athletic's Andrew Marchand reported.
"ESPN and its sister platform, NFL Network, are expected to have more layoffs Tuesday as part of broader cuts at their parent company, Disney. There are expected to be a small number of layoffs of on-air personalities based at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., as well as a larger number of employees, both on- and off-the-air, from NFL Network."
© Dale Zanine-Imagn Images.
Richard Deitsch had more details.
"A source familiar with ESPN's move here but not authorized to speak publicly says the company planned to tell Clark on Tuesday. They received some media inquiries about this today. So management opted to let him know before he read about it," he added on X.
Fans not happy with ESPN's handling of this
No matter how you feel about Clark, it comes across as highly unprofessional and poorly planned to lay someone off during the middle of a show.
Even if ESPN was just trying to get ahead of Clark finding something out online, this should've been handled better. Tell him before the show or immediately after the show.
"Regardless of your feelings about him or his work, who tells someone during the show that they’re being let go? That’s diabolical," one fan wrote.
"Wow, that’s totally unprofessional and beyond humiliating," one fan added.
"You can not like someone and still have a problem with the way they were let go. Letting go of someone while they are on the air is pretty crazy and messed up," one fan added.
Unfortunately for those at ESPN and Disney, it sounds like more layoffs are coming on Tuesday.
