Suzy Kolber shares heartbreaking details from ESPN firing — and the moment she ‘lost it’ on exec
Suzy Kolber is back on the mic and sharing her ESPN story.
The former anchor and reporter at the Worldwide Leader joined “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” in the latest episode on Thursday to break down her newest career endeavor as the executive producer of new series “The Originals” and the last three years since she was laid off by the network in 2023.
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Kolber, 62, was at ESPN for 27 years and was the headline of layoffs that year along with Steve Young, Jeff Van Gundy and Jalen Rose among roughly 20 commentators and reporters. A week before the official call, she was made known of the literal writing on the wall.
“He [ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro] said, ‘Suzy there’s a whiteboard and your name’s on it. I don’t really know for sure right now but your name is on it,’” she recalled on the podcast.
Kolber said she later spoke to one of her bosses at the network, who did not say “No, you’re safe.”
“I remember that day sitting next to my daughter in the kitchen. For years I’ve said ‘You never know.’ And I sat down next to her and I cried. And I said, ‘I think this is really happening,’” she said.
Kolber remembered Young later calling her, asking what she thinks of the word spreading around the office.
“I said ‘Steve, you know our place. Where there is smoke, there’s fire. This is coming from inside. So, I’m not shocked.’”
Having been aware of what was to come, Kolber was calm when ESPN executive Norby Williamson asked to call her.
However, Kolber “lost it” when Williamson told her she couldn’t say “anything disparaging about the company or we can take the last year of your contract.”
To that, she described herself as the “ultimate good soldier” as she saw various things throughout the years at the network.
“I have never said one negative thing about this company. Do you think I’m going to start now?” she said.
With that one year left on her contract, Kolber wasn’t allowed to be on the air unless she wanted to forgo it altogether.
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Williamson went on to tell Kolber that ESPN was “not going to say anything” about her layoff nor her 27 years of service at the network.
“I’m a human, it just, that hurt. Why not?” Kolber said, to which Deitsch asked if she ever got any satisfying answer on the “why not.”
“No,” she replied.
“I just thought after 27 years of, I was the first person hired for the launch of ESPN 2. I was the first person assigned to the X Games,” she went on. “I went and shot the marketing tape for it. ‘Monday Night Football’s’ move to ESPN, I was part of some pretty big franchises. You’re not going to say a word? Not thanks for 27 years, just acknowledge it? I didn’t understand that.”
Thus, Kolber created her own post to share on social media and alerted Adam Schefter, asking him to repost it. Former head of communications Chris LaPlaca said ESPN would repost it as well.
As soon as it went live, she had “three to five minutes of full on sobbing.”
In her contract prior to the layoff, Kolber revealed she took a 39 percent pay cut in what was a decision to keep doing what she loved while also asking for some assignments to be pulled to get her “life back.”
“I did think the 39% cut was going to get me to the end,” she said.
Now, Kolber is on the precipice of launching her new show as a part of the Scripps Sports Network, a free streaming television channel launched by the Scripps Company earlier this year.
“The Originals” features one-on-one interviews with trailblazers in the sports space, discussing how they have built their careers as well as the personal sides of their lives. Kolber has interviews lined up to air with Savannah Bananas founder Jesse Cole, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters, Hilary Knight, Diana Flores and Young.
The network has live rights as well, including with the WNBA, NWSL, PWHL, MLV along with individual sports teams, such as the Aces and Golden Knights.
After being laid off, Kolber said she never tied her identity to being on television. However, as to whether she has interest in live sports with Scripps Sports Network or vise versa, she said, “I’m not saying no and I would never say never.”
“I don’t really need to necessarily be on TV or live TV,” she added. “The adrenaline I got from that was like a big time withdrawal for me to like come off of that. It’s not an ultimate goal. If it’s something super and it’s there and as this relationship with Scripps develops, who knows? But that for me is not the top of mind.”
Kolber’s show premieres on Sept. 15 at 8 p.m.
