It’s a cold world out here, and Bill Simmons is suffering a full blown bout of lovers scorn at the moment. According to a report from Hollywood Reporter, John Skipper has indeed confirmed that Bill Simmons found out that his contract would not be renewed via twitter. Simmons has been one of the most valuable assets to the ESPN brand, and for them to just discard him like a summer fling is kind of surprising.
Via Hollywood Reporter: ESPN’s John Skipper confirms Bill Simmons found out he was gone via Twitter. Stay classy. pic.twitter.com/dbh9OFwayW
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) May 12, 2015
Simmons was reportedly in the midst of contract negotiations with ESPN on extending his current contract, which ends in September. It is reported that Simmons was seeking his current salary of $3 million to be doubled to $6 million in order for him to stay in his current role. ESPN ultimately balked at the idea of paying Simmons so much money because while Grantland is a huge artistic success, it has not been the cash-cow that ESPN had hoped for. Simmons has clashed with the heads of ESPN over the course of his 15 years with the company, most recently being suspended for calling Roger Goodell a liar on his B.S. Report podcast and then daring ESPN to discipline him for speaking his mind.
ESPN president John Skipper would not comment at this time on whether and if @BillSimmons would appear again on an ESPN platform.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) May 12, 2015
It now appears that Simmons may be done at ESPN all together before his contract is even up. Simmons has been conspicuously absent since the news of his departure. The fact that Simmons found out via twitter that he will not be coming back should be a clear sign that there is almost no going back in an attempt to salvage this relationship. It will be very interesting to see where the Man who brought Grantland and 30 for 30 to ESPN ends up.