Cohn details 80 percent pay cut and conflict with former ESPN president

Linda Cohn spent 34 years as a sports broadcaster at ESPN before departing the network in June of this year. She recently described the final decade of her tenure as a period of financial reduction and interpersonal conflict.

Cohn appeared on The Sage Steele Show on Wednesday to discuss her exit. She stated that her salary was reduced by 80 percent following the closure of ESPN’s Los Angeles studio. The network relocated SportsCenter from Los Angeles to Bristol, Connecticut, in March 2025. Cohn noted that her contract was set to expire around the same time, leading her to sign a one-year extension that included 15 paid appearances. She said she ultimately completed only five of those events before her contract ended on June 30.

The former SportsCenter anchor also addressed her relationship with John Skipper, who served as ESPN president from 2012 until his resignation in December 2017. Cohn claimed Skipper bullied her during a 2017 phone call. The suspension occurred after Cohn made remarks about the network to 77 WABC’s Sid Rosenberg following a round of layoffs. Cohn recalled that Skipper yelled at her over the phone and told her not to come into the office. She described the experience as shocking and said she was close to tears.

Skipper resigned abruptly in 2017 after 27 years with The Walt Disney Company. He cited a desire to seek treatment for substance addiction. In a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Skipper identified cocaine as the substance and explained that his resignation followed an extortion attempt by a supplier who threatened his family.

Cohn said she felt pushed out of the organization in the years following the 2017 incident. She claimed she was cast aside from NHL coverage and placed in a box at the SportsCenter desk. She also said she was ignored when she pitched off-camera work, such as becoming a company ambassador, before her departure. Cohn stated that ESPN planned to issue a press release about her leaving before she received a proper on-air farewell.

The broadcaster said she cried in the bathroom multiple times due to the treatment she received from colleagues on air. She launched her own sports talk show, The Linda Cohn Show, on YouTube in July. Cohn said she no longer feels restricted and uses the platform to ask questions. She has anchored more editions of SportsCenter than any other person in the network's history. ESPN declined to comment on her remarks.