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Kelce liked Clark’s Instagram post about leaving ESPN on Tuesday, July 21
NEED TO KNOW
- Travis Kelce showed support for Ryan Clark after the analyst was laid off from ESPN on Tuesday, July 21
- Clark shared a reflective post about resilience after being informed of his layoff mid-show
- ESPN layoffs impacted both on-air and off-air employees as part of broader organizational changes at the network
Travis Kelce is showing support for Ryan Clark after he was laid off from ESPN mid-show.
Kelce, 36, liked Clark’s Instagram post shared on Tuesday, July 21 regarding the layoff. In the post, Clark, 46, shared a series of videos of himself working out at a Planet Fitness gym. “Proof of Life…” he began the caption.
“Before the madness of yesterday, I woke up, got in my Tundra, drove to Planet Fitness, and got to work,” the former Pittsburgh Steelers player continued. The rest of the day was eventful, but the journey continues.”
He added that his peace is “with God, and my humility comes from within.”
“I’ll continue to build myself so the world can never strip me of what’s real,” Clark’s post concluded. “Get moving today y’all! 🙏🏾”
On Tuesday, the former NFL player was let go from his job on NFL Live while on air. He did not finish the rest of the show upon hearing the news, and was part of wider layoffs at the company, PEOPLE confirmed Tuesday.
A source previously told PEOPLE that the network was reportedly concerned about a leak, fearing that he would hear of his own layoff from social media before he was officially told by his employer, ESPN.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen this way,” the insider said. “Layoffs were supposed to be told to employees impacted today, something was leaked.”
The layoffs are impacting on-air and off-air employees at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn.
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In a prior memo obtained by PEOPLE that was sent to employees from ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro on Tuesday, Pitaro said the layoffs were “difficult decisions.”
“Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN,” Pitaro wrote. “Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future. As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today.”
Pitaro added that ESPN employees would be notified today if their position have been impacted.
“Even in moments like these, the strength of ESPN comes from our people, our teamwork and our shared mission to serve sports fans,” he concluded in the memo.
Cam Newton, who recently served as Stephen A. Smith‘s debate partner on First Take, was also laid off from the network on Tuesday.
Read the original article on People
