ESPN 1000’s Ben Finfer abruptly announced on Facebook that he is “officially done” with the radio network.
In the lengthy post, Finfer gave a few possible reasons for his dismissal. The short answer: ESPN did not renew his contract for 2018. The longer one: Finfer believes his immediate ouster could be related to a scathing social media post he made about President Donald Trump last week.
In light of recent events, ESPN instituted social media guidelines for its employees regarding politics, and Finfer’s tweet admittedly went outside the lines.
Finfer writes:
“Last week on Twitter I used not-so-subtle terms to criticize President Trump for being racist, which is a violation of ESPN’s social media guidelines.”
Finfer acknowledged that he was probably on his way out anyway, but the anti-Trump tweet hastened his departure.
Out of respect to his boss at ESPN, Finfer said he removed the tweet.
It’s not the first time Finfer is leaving a radio station amid controversy. In 2014 while working at the The Game 87.7-FM, Finfer found out mid-show that the station was shutting down. The talented host went on an epic radio rant about not being informed of the station’s demise.
We’re doing a live show here, Finfer said on the air in 2014. And to be told this way, it’s really a letdown. We’re getting screwed on this one. … We just found out on Twitter a half hour ago that the station is being taken off the air. We were not told about this ahead of time.
Finfer said he’s weighing his options, including leaving sports media altogether.
Here is the full text of Finfer’s Facebook post:
With a