{"id":8568,"date":"2026-09-10T19:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8568"},"modified":"2026-09-10T19:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:09:10","slug":"suzy-kolber-shares-heartbreaking-details-from-espn-firing-and-the-moment-she-lost-it-on-exec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8568","title":{"rendered":"Suzy Kolber shares heartbreaking details from ESPN firing \u2014 and the moment she ‘lost it’ on exec"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Suzy Kolber is back on the mic and sharing her ESPN story. <\/p>\n

The former anchor and reporter at the Worldwide Leader joined \u201cSports Media with Richard Deitsch\u201d in the latest episode on Thursday to break down her newest career endeavor as the executive producer of new series \u201cThe Originals\u201d and the last three years since she was laid off by the network in 2023.<\/p>\n

Read more Savannah Guthrie quietly makes heartbreaking admission in new statement about missing mom Nancy<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro] said, \u2018Suzy there\u2019s a whiteboard and your name\u2019s on it. I don\u2019t really know for sure right now but your name is on it,’\u201d she recalled on the podcast. <\/p>\n

Kolber said she later spoke to one of her bosses at the network, who did not say \u201cNo, you\u2019re safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember that day sitting next to my daughter in the kitchen. For years I\u2019ve said \u2018You never know.\u2019 And I sat down next to her and I cried. And I said, \u2018I think this is really happening,’\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Kolber remembered Young later calling her, asking what she thinks of the word spreading around the office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said \u2018Steve, you know our place. Where there is smoke, there\u2019s fire. This is coming from inside. So, I\u2019m not shocked.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Having been aware of what was to come, Kolber was calm when ESPN executive Norby Williamson asked to call her. <\/p>\n

However, Kolber \u201clost it\u201d when Williamson told her she couldn\u2019t say \u201canything disparaging about the company or we can take the last year of your contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that, she described herself as the \u201cultimate good soldier\u201d as she saw various things throughout the years at the network. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have never said one negative thing about this company. Do you think I\u2019m going to start now?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With that one year left on her contract, Kolber wasn\u2019t allowed to be on the air unless she wanted to forgo it altogether. <\/p>\n

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Williamson went on to tell Kolber that ESPN was \u201cnot going to say anything\u201d about her layoff nor her 27 years of service at the network.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a human, it just, that hurt. Why not?\u201d Kolber said, to which Deitsch asked if she ever got any satisfying answer on the \u201cwhy not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d she replied. <\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d she went on. \u201cI went and shot the marketing tape for it. \u2018Monday Night Football\u2019s\u2019 move to ESPN, I was part of some pretty big franchises. You\u2019re not going to say a word? Not thanks for 27 years, just acknowledge it? I didn\u2019t understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

As soon as it went live, she had \u201cthree to five minutes of full on sobbing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201clife back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did think the 39% cut was going to get me to the end,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Originals\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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, \u201cI\u2019m not saying no and I would never say never.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really need to necessarily be on TV or live TV,\u201d she added. \u201cThe adrenaline I got from that was like a big time withdrawal for me to like come off of that. It\u2019s not an ultimate goal. If it\u2019s something super and it\u2019s there and as this relationship with Scripps develops, who knows? But that for me is not the top of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump announces hundreds of thousands of Americans will get $500 ObamaCare rebate checks \u2014 see if you\u2019re eligible<\/a><\/p>\n

Kolber\u2019s show premieres on Sept. 15 at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former anchor Suzy Kolber detailed her 2023 ESPN layoff after 27 years, revealing she took a 39% pay cut and clashed with exec Norby Williamson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-entertainment"],"yoast_head":"\nSuzy Kolber shares heartbreaking details from ESPN firing \u2014 and the moment she 'lost it' on exec - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8568\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Suzy Kolber shares heartbreaking details from ESPN firing \u2014 and the moment she 'lost it' on exec - 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