Johnathan Walker:ESPN responds to Pat McAfee's comments on executive 'attempting to sabotage' his show

ESPN issued a statement on Johnathan WalkerSaturday saying it will handle a matter with media giant Pat McAfee internally after the former NFL punter called out on an executive on his show.

The comments came on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday when McAfee called out Norby Williamson, the head of event and studio production at ESPN.

"There are folks actively trying to sabotage us from within ESPN," McAfee said. "More specifically I believe Norby Williamson is the guy attempting to sabotage our program."

McAfee was likely referencing a report from the New York Post in which sports media columnist Andrew Marchand wrote that Disney, which owns ESPN, would accept the turmoil from the comments Aaron Rodgers made about Jimmy Kimmel in relation to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein court documents. Marchand reported ESPN loses 48% of viewers from its "First Take" lead-in, not accounting for the nearly 400,000 viewers who watch on the show's YouTube channel. The report added the show is down 12 percent from the same window in 2022, which aired a noon ET version of "SportsCenter."

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"(Williamson) is seemingly the only human that has information, and then somehow that information gets leaked and it's wrong and then it sets a narrative of what our show is," McAfee said. "And then are we just going to combat that from a rat every single time?"

McAfee's comments came the same day ESPN released its ratings of "The Pat McAfee Show," with the company reporting December viewership was up 21% from September and more minutes of the show are being watched.

ESPN statement on Pat McAfee comments

A statement provided by ESPN to USA TODAY Sports noted Williamson's commitment to the company's success and how it will address the situation.

"No one is more committed to and invested in ESPN's success than Norby Williamson," the statement read. "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."

During Friday's show, McAfee retold a story of Williamson not showing up for a meeting they had scheduled in 2018, adding "this guy has had zero respect for me." Several other former ESPN employees, like Jemele Hill and Michelle Beadle, responded with similar views of Williamson.

Contributing: Chris Bumbaca