ESPN’s dismissal of top executive Lee Fitting — a senior vice president of production who had been at the company for more than 25 years — was a mystery for many at the company in August 2023.
Others were shocked that it hadn’t happened much sooner, according to The Athletic, which reported Wednesday that Fittings’ dismissal occurred after an HR complaint about inappropriate behavior in 2023.
Shortly after the complaint was made, an investigation took place, which included ESPN officials questioning multiple employees, including “some prominent female staffers.”
A memo sent by Norby Williamson, another top exec at ESPN, on Aug. 21, 2023, said Fitting was “no longer with the company” and ESPN would be “finalizing a new production structure” for the shows he oversaw, including “College GameDay” and “Monday Night Football.”
He was escorted out of the building by security just one week before the 2023 college football and NFL seasons.
Fitting joined WWE as the company’s head of media and production in January, five months after he was ousted at ESPN.
The Athletic spoke to more than 20 women — including six who participated in the network’s 2023 investigation — who described a workplace culture under Fitting that had offensive and sexual language, including lewd jokes about women and their appearance.
The women, who are current and former employees of the network, requested anonymity because they still work in sports media.
“I can’t believe it took this long,” one woman said.
“It finally caught up to him,” another added.
Multiple people recalled incidents in which Fitting allegedly made comments or gestures about women, including times when they were not present — which Fitting denied.
Fitting also allegedly bragged about his and his wife’s robust sex life, multiple sources told The Athletic.
In 2012, some ESPN employees were in a conference room in Bristol, Conn., to watch the NCAA men’s basketball tournament when Fitting allegedly made a comment about a woman — who was not present — and her ability to “open her throat” to down a beer, and then joked that the woman would be good at performing oral sex, according to one person present.
In 2014, there were no chairs available for a woman to sit on during a production meeting, and Fitting patted his lap and said to her: “I’ve got a seat right here for you,” a person in the room said.
One female ESPN employee said Fitting told her, “You look hot,” in a text message sent around 2018.
Another ESPN employee said she was warned by other women not to meet with Fitting alone while outside of work.
“Women had warned each other to be conscious of interactions with him,” she said.
Some “College GameDay” employees said Fitting would jokingly ask female staffers for their hotel room number and often joked about performing bed checks.
A source told The Athletic that Fitting would make crude jokes in front of women, and he’d use the phrase, “It’s OK, she’s one of the guys.”
Other allegations include Fitting texting an ESPN employee, “You look hot,” and him insisting that an on-air talent wear her hair in a ponytail before telling her, “Put your hair up in a ponytail before I do it for you,” which he denied.
Fitting declined to comment on “the broader characterization of him as someone who mistreated women during his tenure at ESPN or why he was let go by the network.”
According to The Athletic, the women affected by Fitting’s alleged behavior felt as though they had to stay quiet to keep their jobs, let alone advance professionally, at ESPN.
Fitting’s involvement in the infamous “College GameDay” Emmy scandal did play a “factor” in his dismissal, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported in January.
