ESPN Cancels New Series After Only One Episode

ESPN canceled its new series with Barstool Sports, Barstool Van Talk, after just one episode. The [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

ESPN canceled its new series with Barstool Sports, Barstool Van Talk, after just one episode. The move comes after the partnership was heavily criticized, considering Barstool's past antagonistic behavior towards ESPN.

ESPN president John Skipper announced his decision to cancel the show on Monday. The series was scheduled to air at 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT on Tuesday nights.

"While we had approval on content of the show, I erred in assuming we could distance our efforts from the Barstool site and its content," Skipper said. "Apart from this decision, we appreciate the efforts of Big Cat and PFT Commenter. They delivered the show they promised."

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ESPN and Barstool's show was announced earlier this month. According to Variety, it was the biggest media deal in ESPN's history. The show would be based on Barstool's popular Pardon My Take podcast with Dan "Big Cat" Katz, PFT Commenter and producer Henry "Henry Ease" Lockwood.

After the deal was announced, it immediately stirred controversy. Barstool fans thought they were selling out, since the site has been critical of ESPN for years. They even sold an "ESPN Lies" T-shirt.

Barstool writers have also been accused of being sexist. Fox Sports host Elika Sadeghi tweeted about the contract Barstool offered her, which asked her to willingly work in an environment where she'd be exposed to "nudity, sexual scenarios, racial epithets, suggestive gestures, profanity and references to stereotypes."

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Barstool founder Dave Portnoy confirmed the authenticity of her story and defended his company.

Sam Ponder, the host of ESPN's Sunday Morning Countdown, took to Twitter on Oct. 17 to criticize ESPN for working with Barstool. She sarcastically welcomed Big Cat to ESPN by posting screenshots of comments left on the Barstool site.

"I was wrong in thinking @BarstoolBigCat wrote that article & called me a slut repeatedly. He just continuously laughed along. It was the PRESIDENT of @barstoolsports who said these things. Happy to clarify," she later wrote.

Sports Illustrated reports that Skipper cancelled the show after receiving emails from ESPN employees who were not happy about the Barstool deal.

"I would say the decision was absolutely at the highest levels with regard to who exactly made it," Barstool CEO Erika Nardini told SI. "I am assuming that because the statement came from John Skipper, I would say it came from him. We are disappointed. This was a big deal for us and we hoped to see it through."

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