Pat McAfee responded Tuesday after he was extensively blamed for the newest wave of layoffs at ESPN.
Many on social media blamed McAfee and his hefty wage, implying that ESPN wouldn’t have needed to half methods with several high-profile figures if not for that. He acknowledged that narrative, however mentioned he hates seeing good individuals lose their jobs and that he had nothing to do with it.
“That’s the narrative and I’m definitely taking it on the shins,” McAfee said on his show Tuesday. “The boys and I are very happy with the work that now we have achieved. We hate any time this occurs. Clearly, that is horrible. We don’t like that. However we’re very honored that we’re nonetheless partnering with ESPN and Disney for the nice of sport and for the long run.
“The primary time we licensed the present by way of ESPN, one in all these occurred, we bought blamed for all of it. I really feel such as you don’t absolutely perceive budgets and the place issues are coming from. This time we’re getting blamed as effectively, which I assume I can perceive, however there’s billions and billions of {dollars} in these corporations. Onerous selections must get made, and we don’t like every of them, and we hope we’re an asset to the corporate going ahead.”
Final month, McAfee reportedly agreed to a new contract with ESPN that pays him roughly $60 million per yr. In all chance, these let go on Tuesday don’t make that a lot mixed, so McAfee’s wage was a straightforward goal for critics of the layoffs.
There may be not a lot McAfee can do to dispel the notion. All he can actually do is maintain doing his present, because it’s not as if he had any hand within the community’s decision-making course of.
