WTF UPDATE?! ESPN Adnan Virk fired, escorted out in Awful Announcing leak investigation
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Rising ESPN star Adnan Virk fired, escorted out in leak investigation
By Andrew Marchand
February 3, 2019 | 5:28pm
Adnan VirkIcon Sportswire via Getty Images
ESPN rising star Adnan Virk has been fired by the network, sources told The Post.
Virk is accused of leaking confidential company information to the media on multiple occasions, according to sources.
When ESPN investigated the allegations, it felt that Virk failed to fully cooperate.
He recently signed a new multi-year contract.
“Adnan Virk no longer works at ESPN,” ESPN vice president Josh Krulewitz told The Post.
Virk could not immediately be reached for comment. CAA, Virk’s agency, declined comment.
On Friday, Virk was escorted off the Bristol campus. The specific nature of the information Virk chose to share is unknown at this time.
During his move up the ESPN ladder, Virk had become a lead studio host on its college football game coverage. He was a regular host on “Baseball Tonight” and college basketball. He was one of the main fill-in hosts on ESPN Radio. He had developed a podcast, called “Cinephile,” about movies.
Virk, 40, attended college in Toronto. He grew up in Canada after he emigrated from Pakistan. After a TV career in Canada, he joined ESPN, where his likable personality and smooth delivery quickly saw him rise up in the company.
Like all ESPN/Disney employees, Virk was required annually to take compliance training dealing with privacy and how to handle sensitive information.
By Andrew Marchand
February 3, 2019 | 5:28pm
Adnan VirkIcon Sportswire via Getty Images
ESPN rising star Adnan Virk has been fired by the network, sources told The Post.
Virk is accused of leaking confidential company information to the media on multiple occasions, according to sources.
When ESPN investigated the allegations, it felt that Virk failed to fully cooperate.
He recently signed a new multi-year contract.
“Adnan Virk no longer works at ESPN,” ESPN vice president Josh Krulewitz told The Post.
Virk could not immediately be reached for comment. CAA, Virk’s agency, declined comment.
On Friday, Virk was escorted off the Bristol campus. The specific nature of the information Virk chose to share is unknown at this time.
During his move up the ESPN ladder, Virk had become a lead studio host on its college football game coverage. He was a regular host on “Baseball Tonight” and college basketball. He was one of the main fill-in hosts on ESPN Radio. He had developed a podcast, called “Cinephile,” about movies.
Virk, 40, attended college in Toronto. He grew up in Canada after he emigrated from Pakistan. After a TV career in Canada, he joined ESPN, where his likable personality and smooth delivery quickly saw him rise up in the company.
Like all ESPN/Disney employees, Virk was required annually to take compliance training dealing with privacy and how to handle sensitive information.
Adnan Virk reportedly fired by ESPN over leaks to Awful Announcing
JIMMY TRAINA
February 04, 2019
The reason ESPN reportedly fired Baseball Tonight host, Adnan Virk, last Friday was because he leaked information to the website, Awful Announcing.
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New York Post sports media reporter, Andrew Marchand, who broke the news of Virk's termination, appeared Monday on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast and shared full details of the strange story.
"The feelling was that Adnan had been leaking information and on this occasion, acccording to my sources, he pre-emptively told Awful Annoucing reporter Ben Koo about a conference call [ESPN] was having about baseball and then [Virk] missed some of the call and so then after he followed up with the senior coordinating for baseball at ESPN, Phil Orleans, and he asked him pointed quesions that weren't actually in the conference call and then that information ended up on Awful Announcing's website later that day, so it tipped off ESPN," Marchand told SI Media Podcast host, Jimmy Traina. "So they did an investigation and they felt like Adnan wasn't truthful or forthcoming when they figured out what happened. It's unclear if he'd been truthful if he would've kept his job, but it probably would've helped."
Virk, who was in the first year of a four-year deal, is not getting paid for the remainder of his contract or receiving a severance and is expected to pursue legal action against ESPN.
"The Virk side feels there should've been a warning first," said Marchand. "From there, you make good of things. Usually in contracts at ESPN, you have some sort of language where if you do something wrong, you're allowed to correct that wrongdoing. That was definitely their view of how things should've gone down. ESPN's view is that they give you all kinds of compliance training, especially about classified information, and you're not supposed to leak it. There's your warning. that's why Adnan Virk is looking at Connecticut lawyers to see what kind of suit he'd have."
In addition to hosting Baseball Tonight, Virk worked on college football and college basketball coverage for ESPN.
JIMMY TRAINA
February 04, 2019
The reason ESPN reportedly fired Baseball Tonight host, Adnan Virk, last Friday was because he leaked information to the website, Awful Announcing.
This super-cute gift basket is filled with goodies that are conveniently available in the seasonal aisle of Walgreens.
From Walgreens
New York Post sports media reporter, Andrew Marchand, who broke the news of Virk's termination, appeared Monday on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast and shared full details of the strange story.
"The feelling was that Adnan had been leaking information and on this occasion, acccording to my sources, he pre-emptively told Awful Annoucing reporter Ben Koo about a conference call [ESPN] was having about baseball and then [Virk] missed some of the call and so then after he followed up with the senior coordinating for baseball at ESPN, Phil Orleans, and he asked him pointed quesions that weren't actually in the conference call and then that information ended up on Awful Announcing's website later that day, so it tipped off ESPN," Marchand told SI Media Podcast host, Jimmy Traina. "So they did an investigation and they felt like Adnan wasn't truthful or forthcoming when they figured out what happened. It's unclear if he'd been truthful if he would've kept his job, but it probably would've helped."
Virk, who was in the first year of a four-year deal, is not getting paid for the remainder of his contract or receiving a severance and is expected to pursue legal action against ESPN.
"The Virk side feels there should've been a warning first," said Marchand. "From there, you make good of things. Usually in contracts at ESPN, you have some sort of language where if you do something wrong, you're allowed to correct that wrongdoing. That was definitely their view of how things should've gone down. ESPN's view is that they give you all kinds of compliance training, especially about classified information, and you're not supposed to leak it. There's your warning. that's why Adnan Virk is looking at Connecticut lawyers to see what kind of suit he'd have."
In addition to hosting Baseball Tonight, Virk worked on college football and college basketball coverage for ESPN.
ESPN determined that host Adnan Virk leaked information on MLB negotiations
A.J. Perez, USA TODAYPublished 4:29 p.m. ET Feb. 4, 2019 | Updated 5:34 p.m. ET Feb. 4, 2019
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ESPN's leak investigation that led to the dismissal of host Adnan Virk's was short and definitive.
ESPN was quickly able to determine that Virk was the source of a report by a sports media website that detailed negotiations between the cable network and Major League Baseball, a person with knowledge of the investigation told USA TODAY Sports.
The person was granted anonymity because details of the investigation have not been made public.
As first reported by The New York Post on Monday, Awful Announcing ran a story titled "Contrary to popular conjecture, Baseball Tonight will not be coming back as a daily program" on Jan. 28. The story included that "MLB gave ground here in part due to some horse trading with ESPN" that allowed the network to televise less baseball-focused studio programming in exchange for moving Sunday Night Baseball an hour earlier to 7 p.m. ET.
ESPN is currently in negotiations to extend its broadcast deal with MLB, Forbesreported last week. The current deal runs through 2021.
Ben Koo, the author of the Jan. 28 Awful Announcing story, declined comment when reached by USA TODAY Sports on Monday.
Virk's bio no long appears on ESPN's website.
Virk, 40, joined ESPN in 2010 as an ESPNEWS anchor and was a host on Baseball Tonight, ESPN's nightly MLB show that was cancelled after the 2016 season. He also served as a host of ESPN's college football coverage and was a fill-in host on ESPN Radio.
Virk, whose parents emigrated from Pakistan to Canada, spent a dozen years at the Canadian sports network TSN before he joined ESPN.
A.J. Perez, USA TODAYPublished 4:29 p.m. ET Feb. 4, 2019 | Updated 5:34 p.m. ET Feb. 4, 2019
CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
ESPN's leak investigation that led to the dismissal of host Adnan Virk's was short and definitive.
ESPN was quickly able to determine that Virk was the source of a report by a sports media website that detailed negotiations between the cable network and Major League Baseball, a person with knowledge of the investigation told USA TODAY Sports.
The person was granted anonymity because details of the investigation have not been made public.
As first reported by The New York Post on Monday, Awful Announcing ran a story titled "Contrary to popular conjecture, Baseball Tonight will not be coming back as a daily program" on Jan. 28. The story included that "MLB gave ground here in part due to some horse trading with ESPN" that allowed the network to televise less baseball-focused studio programming in exchange for moving Sunday Night Baseball an hour earlier to 7 p.m. ET.
ESPN is currently in negotiations to extend its broadcast deal with MLB, Forbesreported last week. The current deal runs through 2021.
Virk participated in part of a conference call about plans for the forthcoming baseball season, although he called a producer later to learn what he had missed, according to The New York Post citing "sources." Those details soon appeared in the Awful Announcing article.
Virk was then not forthcoming when confronted about the leak, although Virk likely would have been dismissed even if he admitted to it, the person told USA TODAY Sports.
"Unfortunately at this time I can’t say anything ... on the advice of legal counsel," Virk told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.
ESPN pointed to its statement Sunday night in which ESPN spokesperson Josh Krulewitz told USA TODAY Sports "Adnan Virk no longer works at ESPN."Virk was then not forthcoming when confronted about the leak, although Virk likely would have been dismissed even if he admitted to it, the person told USA TODAY Sports.
"Unfortunately at this time I can’t say anything ... on the advice of legal counsel," Virk told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.
Ben Koo, the author of the Jan. 28 Awful Announcing story, declined comment when reached by USA TODAY Sports on Monday.
Virk's bio no long appears on ESPN's website.
Virk, 40, joined ESPN in 2010 as an ESPNEWS anchor and was a host on Baseball Tonight, ESPN's nightly MLB show that was cancelled after the 2016 season. He also served as a host of ESPN's college football coverage and was a fill-in host on ESPN Radio.
Virk, whose parents emigrated from Pakistan to Canada, spent a dozen years at the Canadian sports network TSN before he joined ESPN.
Dayum....he fuked up his money over bullshat.....
WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I SWORE this was an april fool's joke
I had to check my calendar.
He was OK I always felt like he was a bootleg Greeny
What ... the What...
He was like one of the few guys Left that I fucked it..
He always came across as the "I'm a regular dude with an amazing job and I'm tripping that I'm getting paid to do this" vibe... He just seemed like a regular dude.. Like if he saw you out.. He'd drink a beer with you and talk about Hockey.
Man I'm tripping out...
He was like one of the few guys Left that I fucked it..
He always came across as the "I'm a regular dude with an amazing job and I'm tripping that I'm getting paid to do this" vibe... He just seemed like a regular dude.. Like if he saw you out.. He'd drink a beer with you and talk about Hockey.
Man I'm tripping out...
Yeah but unlike Greeny... I always felt that Adnan was a regular dude. Like If I was working at ESPN.. I'd probably be like Adnan.. up there talking nerd shit about Movies and my love of the Titans like his love of the Raptors. LOL
What he forgot was this rumor "Virk is going to be fired and walked out of the building for leaking shit he was supposed to...shhhh don't tell nobody"
Gawd damn...
Dude got fired out of stupidity ...
gawd damn
and doing something like is going to hurt his money on the next job..
But
I could see one of the Day time or Afternoon Entertainment Shows (Entertainment Tonight) or E-Network picking dude up... because his Movie podcast is pretty popular.
Yeah, he sounds like he was just bored with his job. Sometimes we can be too smart for our own good and it ends having the opposite effect.
I thought ESPN was just a stepping stone for dude...he gonna do bigger.
Damn.... Walked that dude outHe will come back, but he's going to have to give it 6 months or so to let the story die down. Hope he saved up.
Nope
He gone
Seems you were right
I won't watch him at DAZN. I heard a lot of his broadcasts over the years and he went with the typical CAC attitudes toward highly paid Black athletes. But he wanted people to respect him as a Muslim and Canadian. And he was a unrelenting self promoter. Every broadcast he mentioned his movie podcast.
I'm glad they got rid of him and that clown who used to promote his green chili. I don't watch the ESPN shows anymore though...just the games and fights.
I thought i was the only one
I don't got no hate but he said a whole of slick talk about black panther and another black film so i decided i will never listen to hos podcast...
Honestly his overall reviews weren't that impressive either