The move has nothing to do with McAfee, a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak about it publicly told The Times, but came about because Williamson did not share ESPN president of content Burke Magnus’ long-term vision for the company’s content strategy.
In a note to employees, which was viewed by The Times, Magnus wrote: “I am reaching out with some important news. Norby Williamson will be leaving the company today after nearly 40 years of dedicated service.
“During Norby’s career, he made significant contributions across many important roles within Content. Through his steadfast commitment and attention to detail, Norby has had a lasting impact on the sports fans’ experience. His wide-ranging influence includes SportsCenter, breaking news coverage, immense creativity within event and studio productions and diverse storytelling across various ESPN platforms.”
The note to employees also included a message from Williamson, which read: “Almost 40 years ago in 1985, I was so very fortunate to be offered an opportunity at ESPN. Due to the exceptional hard work, creativity and commitment of the people of ESPN, and to a much lesser extent my contributions, I’d like to think we’ve left our great company in a far better place than we found it.”
ESPN will conduct a full search for a new senior content executive as soon as possible, Magnus wrote.
According to his online ESPN bio, Williamson started working for the network as a mailroom employee and rose through the ranks to become one of its top executives. As executive editor and head of event and studio production since 2017, Williamson was in charge of the “SportsCenter” franchise, ESPN Radio, the “E:60” news magazine series and more. He also had production oversight of the company’s content for baseball, NHL, UFC, boxing, tennis, golf and, as of last summer, football.
As influential as Williamson was within the company, many viewers had probably never heard of him until the Jan. 5 episode of “The Pat McAfee Show,” in which the host called Williamson “a rat” and accused him of “attempting to sabotage our program” by leaking false ratings numbers to the press.”
The episode aired three days after New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared on McAfee’s show and suggested without evidence that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s name could surface in the Jeffrey Epstein court documents. Kimmel was not named in the documents.
ESPN responded at the time with a statement that both defended Williamson and touted the success of McAfee’s show, which gained a large following on YouTube before being picked up by ESPN last May.
“No one is more committed to and invested in ESPN’s success than Norby Williamson,” the network stated. “At the same time, we are thrilled with the multi-platform success that we have seen from the Pat McAfee Show across ESPN. We will handle this matter internally and have no further comment.”