John Skipper said a cocaine extortion threat forced him to resign from ESPN as president in December, telling The Hollywood Reporter he did it to protect his family and the sports network.
The interview, published Thursday, was Skipper's first since surprising many in the sports world with his sudden department from the network.
Skipper, 62, who worked at Disney 27 years and served as ESPN's president since 2012, was credited with winning long-term, multi-platform agreements with major rights holders like the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball, according to the Daily Mail.
He also oversaw several rounds of layoffs at the sports broadcasting giant and the negative publicity that surrounded the suspensions of on-air personalities like Jemele Hill and the firing of former baseball star Curt Schilling.
While not describing the specifics of the extortion threat, Skipper said it was serious enough to take to ESPN where he offered his resignation. Skipper said at the time that he resigned to address his substance abuse problem, which he told The Hollywood Reporter was with cocaine.
Skipper said someone he purchased the drugs from attempted to extort him.
"They threatened me, and I understood immediately that threat put me and my family at risk, and this exposure would put my professional life at risk as well," Skipper told The Hollywood Reporter. "I foreclosed that possibility by disclosing the details to my family, and then when I discussed it with Bob (Igor, Disney president), he and I agreed that I had placed the company in an untenable position and as a result, I should resign."
Skipper told THR he felt he could not stay on once he admitted what was happening.
"My drug use never had any professional repercussions, but I still have profound regret. I accept that the consequences of my actions are my responsibility and have been appropriate. I also have to accept that I used very poor judgment," he said.
Skipper added, though, that he never used drugs at work and it never impacted his job, but said he felt he let people down.
"In order to do what I did you have to be a master of compartmentalization," Skipper told THR. "Which is why people are going, 'I don't understand this.' Because they have the belief that they can recognize someone who has a problem. Because it 'has to' manifest itself.
"And I did a very good job of not letting it manifest itself, with the exception — and this part is another piece of the part that I let myself down and I did not hold myself to the standard I should have, which is, in order to compartmentalize you have to deceive yourself and deceive other people. And that's not who I want to be, and I think that has to be part of my rehabilitation," Skipper said.
As he recovers, Skipper told The Hollywood Reporter he would like to "get back in and do some things that matter. I’d like to work with some people who are doing exciting things." He added that he sees himself "helping a few smart people; people I like and respect and who do things that matter."
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