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In broadcast talent separations, the remaining contract year is the fulcrum. When a network terminates talent mid-deal, a non-disparagement provision ties that value to silence.
Suzy Kolber ran into that structure when ESPN cut her in June 2023, and she described the experience publicly for the first time this week on the "Sports Media with Richard Deitsch" podcast.
Kolber had hosted ESPN's "Monday Night Countdown" at the time of the layoff, one of 20 talent cuts that also included Steve Young, Max Kellerman, and Jalen Rose. The separation came with early warning.
ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro told her, per her account on the podcast, that her name was on a whiteboard but he was not certain of the outcome. She went home, sat with her daughter in the kitchen, and cried.
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