This past January, WWE announced that they had hired Lee Fitting as Head of Media and Production following the departure of Kevin Dunn, the longtime WWE head of production. TKO’s Marc Shapiro previously oversaw ESPN, a company where Fitting worked for many years.
The Athletic published an in-depth article today covering Lee Fitting being let go by ESPN in 2023 before he went to WWE. He oversaw the successful College GameDay show and was thought to be next in line to head the network’s programming prior to his release. The article noted the following:
“In 2023, a complaint regarding Fitting was made with ESPN’s human resources department, prompting officials at ESPN to question a group of employees, including some prominent female staffers. A short time later Fitting, then 48, was done at ESPN. “It finally caught up to him,” said one of the women questioned.
Fitting, via a spokesperson, denied some of the allegations made against him while choosing not to address others. He declined to comment on the broader characterization of him as someone who mistreated women during his tenure at ESPN or why he was let go by the network.”
WWE opted not to comment on the allegations.
EXCLUSIVE: Lee Fitting turned "College GameDay" into an ESPN success, but some women at the network said he made objectifying, crude and sexist remarks.
Some were stunned when the company finally cut bait: "I can’t believe it took this long."
✍️ @KatieJStrang & @AndrewMarchand
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 18, 2024
