ESPN Cancels Barstool Sports TV Show After One Episode

ESPN has pulled the plug on PFT Commenter and Dan Katz’s weekly show Barstool Van Talk after just one episode. (The next episode would have been scheduled to air Wednesday morning at 1 a.m. ET.)

Network president John Skipper’s statement includes the timeless phrase “we appreciate the efforts of Big Cat”:

Given that Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy fought specifically to keep his site’s branding attached to the show, it’s bizarre for Skipper to say that he had hoped to keep the content of Barstool away from ESPN—the program had “Barstool” in the name! So what’s changed since last week? It’s not a bad bet to guess that increasingly public dissent from ESPN’s female employees like Sam Ponder, to go with a strong behind-the-scenes campaign, forced Skipper to take action.