Sports broadcaster Linda Cohn claimed she had an unceremonious expertise in the latter years of her 34-year tenure at ESPN.
During an look on “The Sage Steele Show” Wednesday, Cohn, who was the longest-tenured “SportsCenter” anchor and left ESPN in June, didn’t maintain back while discussing her last decade at the Worldwide Leader — alleging her wage was reduce by 80 % and she was bullied by former ESPN president John Skipper.
“[John] Skipper was an absolute nightmare for me,” Cohn, 66, said. “I had a thing about why he suspended me [in 2017]. He bullied me. He never gave me opportunities. And it’s karma, baby. I mean we saw what happened to him. Listen I dont wish anything bad on anybody even if they treated me the way I should not have been treated.”
Cohn claimed Skipper bullied her during a 2017 telephone call, during which he suspended her for remarks she made about ESPN following a spherical of a layoffs during an interview with 77 WABC’s Sid Rosenberg.
“I was shocked. I was devastated,” Cohn said. “That had never occurred to me… He [Skipper] gets on the telephone and he’s yelling at me. And now When I look back on it, I wouldn’t be shocked if he was on something because he sounded not proper.
“He was yelling at me [and] bullying me. I go, ‘John, what’s going on?’ I really had no idea what he was talking about. I couldn’t believe it. So, I was suspended for whatever. ‘Don’t come in.’ I’m like ‘Okay, I won’t come in.’ But I was really upset. I was close to tears. I don’t like being bullied, and I definitely don’t like being bullied for no reason. Be the adult for God sakes… can you explain or clarify? … I was there for decades at that point.”
Steele talked about that Cohn was informed to take the time off of “SportsCenter,” indicating that it wasn’t a formal suspension.
Linda Cohn anchoring “SportsCenter” at ESPN. Instagram/Linda Cohn
Skipper — who grew to become ESPN president in 2012 — immediately resigned in December 2017 after 27 years with The Walt Disney Company, citing his need to search remedy for what he called “substance addiction.”
In a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Skipper shared that his substance habit was cocaine — and defined that his abrupt resignation came after “someone from whom I bought cocaine attempted to extort me” and threatened his household.
Cohn said she was “cast aside” from doing NHL protection and put in a field at the “SportsCenter” desk.
John Skipper attends the premiere of “Miss Brown” during Shorts: Tapestry at 2023 Tribeca Festival at AMC nineteenth Street on June 8, 2023 in New York City. Getty Images for Tribeca Festiva
“The last year I was technically at ESPN, they cut my salary by 80 percent when they closed the LA studio,” Cohn said referring to ESPN’s relocation of “SportsCenter” from Los Angeles to Bristol, CT, in March 2025.
“I felt bad for my colleagues.. they told them six weeks before they decided to close that studio for “SportsCenter,’” Cohn said. “… At that point my deal was up and I was like I’m not gonna let them rush me into a decision and I didn’t want to end my tenure that way.”
In an interview with The Post that June, Cohn said she signed on for one more 12 months with ESPN in June 2025 and agreed to do some occasions after flirting with the concept of retirement.
“So I accepted their 80 percent pay cut and I said, ‘Hey let me do some events for you’ … I actually signed a deal that was 15 events for appearances for ESPN. Loyalty doesn’t pay because I’ll tell you something… If you Google me for what I made, that’s all incorrect. I ended up doing about five events. I was like out of sight, out of mind.”
Cohn, who said she felt pushed out of ESPN, left when her deal was up on June 30.
She said she pitched doing off-camera work, such as turning into an ambassador for the firm, and claims she was ignored.
Cohn said she sobbed in the rest room a number of occasions over folks she labored with that “made me feel like crap” on-air.
Cohn defined that ESPN was “first going to put out a press release” about her leaving the Worldwide Leader before she got a correct farewell and celebration of her profession on-air.
In July, she launched her own sports activities discuss present, “The Linda Cohn Show,” on YouTube.
“For the first time I dont have a muzzle around my mouth, a gag,” Cohn said while discussing her present. “… My show is common sense and I ask questions. I just don’t accept the mainstream… You could relate to this Sage because this is exactly what you experienced [at ESPN].”
Steele famously sued ESPN and its mother or father firm Disney is 2022 over her criticisms of the firm’s COVID-19 mandate. The sides settled the case in 2023 and Steele left the firm after 16 years to go out on her own.
Cohn has anchored more editions of “SportsCenter” on ESPN than anyone in historical past.
ESPN declined remark when reached by The Post.
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