Adnan Virk was a rising star at ESPN when he was stunningly fired by the company in a move that was first reported on Super Bowl Sunday.
In the days after the move was made public it was reported that ESPN fired him for allegedly leaking confidential information to the media.
On Tuesday night Virk made his first public statement on the situation, sending this text to the New York Post:
“Suffice it to say, that I believe that I did nothing wrong that would justify my termination, and I categorically deny that I leaked any confidential or proprietary information,” said Virk, who recently signed a two-year extension. “There is considerably more that I would like to say regarding my tenure with ESPN and the circumstances surrounding my termination. However, I believe that, for now, it is in my and the Company’s best interest to concentrate on attempting to resolve our differences, rather than engaging in a very public war of words.”
ESPN believes that Virk gave inside information to Awful Announcing in a story about “Sunday Night Baseball” starting an hour earlier.
From the Post:
ESPN felt Virk went out of his way to ask one of his bosses pointed questions about the company’s baseball plans that had not been covered in any meetings. The information then appeared hours later on Awful Announcing.
“Much of what has been reported about my termination from ESPN is false and, I think, defamatory,” Virk said. “We – meaning me and my lawyers, Wajahat Laiq and Neal Brickman, and lawyers for ESPN – are currently attempting to amicably resolve my leaving ESPN. I think that, while we are attempting to settle our differences, it is not productive for me to advocate my positions or to assert any affirmative claims in the press.”
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
