Bill Simmons to Release Interview With Former ESPN Boss John Skipper

On the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons revealed some information about an upcoming episode that’s quite intriguing. Later this week, he will air an interview with his former ESPN boss John Skipper.

The interview, according to Simmons, was recorded on April 1st and will cover their “relationship over the last 20 years and all the stuff that happened, good and bad.”

Hearing that the pair sat down to chat is compelling because of how their relationship ended.

Simmons was a part of several prominent ESPN projects during his time, most notably Grantland and the 30 for 30 documentary series, before getting unceremoniously fired in 2015. Skipper was the President of ESPN at the time and had a lot to say about Simmons’ exile on the record, including that the decision was his, specifically.

“Bill would rather spin conspiracy theories and be perceived as a martyr than take responsibility for his own actions,” Skipper said in a statement to the New York Times. “Let me be unequivocal and clear and take responsibility for my actions: I alone made the decision, and it had nothing to do with his comments about the commissioner. I severed our relationship with Bill because of his repeated lack of respect for this company and, more importantly, the people who work here.”

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

Nowadays, neither are at ESPN but ironically, they’re in business together at the moment.

Skipper had his own strange split from ESPN in 2017 and currently works as an executive for Perform Group, the parent company of DAZN, a new sports streaming service. DAZN, according to Simmons, is in a three-month advertising relationship with Simmons and his website, The Ringer, which ultimately brought the pair together for the interview.