Linda Cohn, a former "SportsCenter" anchor and the longest-tenured employee at ESPN before her departure last month, has voiced strong criticism regarding the network's recent round of layoffs, calling the handling of the situation "buffoonery."
Cohn's comments come after several high-profile departures from the network, including former colleagues Ryan Clark, Karl Ravech, and David Lloyd. She noted that the process lacked respect for those affected.
"The ESPN layoffs were awful. You hate to see anybody lose their job," Cohn stated on her YouTube show, as reported by Awful Announcing. "It's all bad. When you're laid off, when you're fired, when your salary is cut, when you have to think, ‘What do I do now?’ Well, the ESPN layoffs, that was awful. What made it even worse, if that could be possible, was the way ESPN PR handled it, or mishandled it, because they treated everyone on this latest firing list with zero respect. Zero. Beginning with Ryan Clark."
Cohn specifically pointed to the circumstances surrounding Ryan Clark's dismissal. Clark was reportedly let go during a commercial break of "NFL Live," with news of his departure leaking before he was formally notified. Cohn questioned why Clark was not informed of his impending termination the night before or at least before he began his on-air duties.
"That whole PR nightmare could have been avoided if Ryan Clark was alerted, how about the night before?," she continued. "And how about before he took the set for ‘NFL Live’? If you knew there were media outlets going to break the news and you were concerned about Ryan finding out by looking at his phone during the show, then why didn’t you just tell him before the show? That is bumbling and fumbling. That buffoonery electrified this story in a negative way even more."
Dan Patrick, another ESPN alum, echoed Cohn's sentiments, criticizing the lack of "dignity" shown to employees during the layoffs. He suggested that the network should have handled the departures with more respect.
"The only thing that I would say is show dignity to those people in how you let them go," Patrick said on his podcast. "That’s all. It can’t happen that Karl Ravech is contacted by somebody wanting a comment. Thirty-three years and that’s how it ends? Show dignity. Give them that dignity."
According to longtime colleague Buster Olney, Ravech had "no idea" he was going to be laid off. Clark himself was reportedly brought to tears discussing his exit from the network.
Other notable figures who were part of this round of layoffs include Cam Newton, NFL insider Tom Pelissero, football injury expert Stephania Bell, Charles Davis, combat sports reporter Andreas Hale, and former Jets star Bart Scott, who had co-hosted an ESPN New York radio show.
Cohn, who had been with ESPN for decades, received a planned on-air farewell and was able to announce her own retirement from the network before her departure.