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Cocaine and Extortion: John Skipper Explains Why He Abruptly Left ESPN

John Skipper resigned as president of ESPN in December, at age 62. “In December, someone from whom I bought cocaine attempted to extort me,” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.Credit...Richard Perry/The New York Times

John Skipper, the former ESPN president, revealed on Thursday that he had a cocaine addiction and that an attempted extortion plot by somebody he bought drugs from caused his abrupt resignation in December.

“They threatened me, and I understood immediately that threat put me and my family at risk, and this exposure would put my professional life at risk as well,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Mr. Skipper said he spoke with Robert A. Iger, the chairman and chief executive of Disney, ESPN’s parent company, and the two agreed he had put the company in an “untenable” position and had to resign. He added in the interview that he had never used heroin or opioids.

ESPN declined to comment on its former president’s interview. Disney didn’t respond to a request for comment, and Mr. Skipper didn’t respond to a message left at his home.

Mr. Skipper admitted that his cocaine use had caused “a missed plane and a few canceled morning appointments,” but said that it otherwise never affected his professional work. “I judge that I did a very good job and that it did not get in the way of my work,” he said. “I worked hard, I worked smart. I worked all the time.”

He did not say how long he had been using cocaine, or whether he reported the extortion plot to law enforcement. In December, at the time of his resignation, Mr. Skipper said he was entering rehabilitation. The police departments in Bristol, Conn., and Wilton, Conn., the Connecticut State Police and the New York City Police Department all said then that there were no records of any incidents involving Mr. Skipper.

Mr. Skipper’s resignation, which came on Dec. 18, a Monday, took everybody, even high-level ESPN employees, by surprise. The previous Wednesday, he had presided over a mandatory all-hands meeting on ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., campus. Facing an audience nervous after layoffs, management changes and a very public battle with President Trump, Mr. Skipper projected an aura of calm and stability. He expressed optimism about the company’s future, according to attendees.

Two days later, according to the account he gave The Hollywood Reporter, he met with Mr. Iger and the two mutually decided he should resign. “I have struggled for many years with a substance addiction,” Mr. Skipper said when announcing his resignation. “I have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to take care of my problem.”

It was a problem almost nobody, including those who have spent extensive time with Mr. Skipper, knew he had.

His rehabilitation has included unspecified “therapy” and “treatment,” Mr. Skipper stated in the interview. He indicated that he would like to work again sooner rather than later. “I don’t think it will take the form of a large corporate job, managing a lot of people and running a big company,” he said. “I think it will take the form of helping a few smart people; people I like and respect and who do things that matter.”

In the almost 90 days since his resignation, ESPN has been busy. The company is preparing to launch a completely redesigned app next month, which will include ESPN Plus, its new streaming service. It is finishing construction of a Manhattan studio, which will house a new Mike Greenberg-hosted morning show, “Get Up,” as well as a yet-to-be named midday show.

Overseeing the company’s response to major challenges, including a steep decline in subscribers and a fractured relationship with the N.F.L., is James Pitaro, a Disney executive, who was recently named ESPN’s president. Mr. Pitaro is the first president to come from outside of ESPN in a long time, but he is said to be especially close to Mr. Iger.

On Wednesday, Mr. Pitaro had his own town hall with ESPN employees. Echoing Mr. Skipper’s town hall from three months earlier, he expressed excitement about all of the company’s initiatives, and promised better days ahead.

Eighteen hours later, ESPN employees woke up to the news that their former boss had hid his cocaine problem, and resigned because of an extortion attempt by his dealer. According to some, the news was a relief. It explained why they had seen no evidence of a problem, as well as why he had to resign.

Still, plenty of questions remain. Did Mr. Skipper, Mr. Iger or ESPN report the extortion attempt to law enforcement? He says his cocaine problem didn’t affect his professional work, but if he hadn’t been using would he have handled the company’s numerous challenges over his six-year tenure any differently? Finally, is this the final shoe to drop, or will news about John Skipper continue dribbling out?

For now, no one close to Mr. Skipper and ESPN is speaking publicly, leaving the questions to linger.

Email Kevin Draper at kevin.draper@nytimes.com or follow him on Twitter: @kevinmdraper.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Cocaine and Extortion: Former Head of ESPN Explains His Abrupt Departure. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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