After controversy generated by a meme released on his Facebook page, Curt Schilling has been fired by ESPN. After making the move, the media giant released a statement, per Richard Sandomir of the New York Times:
“ESPN is an inclusive company,” ESPN said in a statement. “Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.”
Schilling’s social media post can be seen on SB Nation (courtesy of Cyd Zeigler). Schilling issued a response to the initial backlash on his 38 Pitches Blog.
Schilling last pitched in 2007 and won three World Series (2001, 2004, 2007) in his playing career. As an analyst, he’s faced discipline in the past for comments made about Muslims and Hillary Clinton, detailed by Rodger Sherman of SB Nation and Joe Rodgers of the Sporting News.
While Schilling has yet to respond to his firing, he’s obviously traditionally been unafraid to speak his mind, so there’s a very good chance that we haven’t heard the last of this.