Ex-ESPN president says he left network due to cocaine extortion plot

John Skipper, the former ESPN president who cited his desire to get treatment for "substance addiction" when he unexpectedly resigned in December, now says he left the network because someone he purchased cocaine from had attempted to extort him.

"They threatened me, and I understood immediately that threat put me and my family at risk, and this exposure would put my professional life at risk as well," Skipper recently told James Andrew Miller of the Hollywood Reporter. "I foreclosed that possibility by disclosing the details to my family, and then when I discussed it with (Disney CEO) Bob (Iger), he and I agreed that I had placed the company in an untenable position and as a result, I should resign."

Skipper, who took over as president of ESPN in 2012 and had worked at Disney - the network's parent company - for 27 years, said he acted "very foolishly" by buying cocaine from someone he had never dealt with before, and added that his decision to resign was also partly fueled by his desire not to put the company in a vulnerable position or force it to defend his actions.

"Look, it was inappropriate for the president of ESPN and an officer of The Walt Disney Co. to be associated in any way with any of this," he said. "I do want to make it clear, however, that anything I did in this regard, and anything else resulting from this, was a personal problem. My drug use never had any professional repercussions, but I still have profound regret. I accept that the consequences of my actions are my responsibility and have been appropriate. I also have to accept that I used very poor judgment."

Skipper stressed, however, that his cocaine use over the past 20 years has actually been "quite infrequent," and that he never used drugs at work. Following his resignation, he went through treatment and therapy, he said, adding that he's now "had an opportunity to not use for a long period of time, and I have resources to help me now, which are ongoing."