Jason Whitlock Jumps Ship From ESPN Back to Fox Sports

“I feel free to be me and not persecuted for being me,” former editor-in-chief of The Undefeated says

Fox Sports

Jason Whitlock, the former editor-in-chief of The Undefeated, has left ESPN to return to Fox Sports.

After being replaced as the head of ESPN’s website that focuses on the intersection of race and sports in June, Whitlock will rejoin Fox Sports as a columnist and on-air personality effective immediately, the network said in a statement to TheWrap Wednesday.

Whitlock, who was with Fox from 2007 to 2013, made the announcement Tuesday night in a column titled “The Explanation 2.0: Still Undefeated” on his new Fox Sports Digital blog, J.school.

To share the news, Whitlock joined another recently departed ESPN personality, Colin Cowherd, on his radio show, “The Herd” on FS1 and FOX Sports Radio.

“I feel free today. I feel like Jason Whitlock today. I feel like the journalist I’ve always been, the opinion-maker I’ve always been,” he told Cowherd, who was booted from ESPN in June after making controversial comments about the Dominican Republic.

“I feel free to be me and not persecuted for being me. It’s an overwhelming sense of relief and joy,” Whitlock went on to say.

Beginning Wednesday, Whitlock’s columns will appear daily on J.school, with a podcast also expected to launch soon. Also in development is an FS1 show in which he is a prominent contributor, set for the first quarter of 2016.

“Jason Whitlock has been a prominent voice covering all areas of our culture with thought-provoking commentary for 25 years,” Fox Sports President, National Networks Jamie Horowitz, said in a statement. “At FS1, we are consistently looking for people with perspectives who are independent, original and fearless. Jason’s columns, podcasts and work on ‘PTI’ have offered fans new ways to look at the sports world. We are eager to add his voice to FS1.”

Whitlock twice worked for ESPN.  He had a six-year association from 2000 to 2006, writing a weekly column for ESPN.com and frequently contributing to its studio shows. Whitlock left Fox Sports to return to ESPN in August 2013 to help develop a still unrealized website intended to cover the convergence of race and sports.

Comments