“SportsCenter” anchor Sara Walsh announced Thursday that she was among the nearly 100 employees laid off by ESPN last week.
Walsh recently gave birth to twins. She tweeted that she won’t return to the network as she completes maternity leave.
“I was truly excited to return to work today from maternity leave with the twins,” she wrote on Twitter. “Unfortunately, I will not be coming back as I was included in the recent layoffs.”
Walsh joined ESPN in 2010.
ESPN’s latest round of layoffs began last Wednesday, when a number of high-profile employees ― including NFL reporter Ed Werder, MLB writer Jayson Stark, and many of its college basketball and NBA reporters ― announced their departures from the company.
It’s unclear whether Walsh learned of the layoff last week or upon her scheduled return from maternity leave ― the Washington Post cited a source saying that all employees who lost jobs were told Wednesday. News of specific layoffs, however, has continued to trickle out this week.
ESPN has attempted to refocus “SportsCenter” over the last two years as ratings for its signature program declined, and this round of layoffs hit the show hard. Along with Walsh, anchors Jay Crawford, Chris Hassel, Darren Haynes, Jade McCarthy and Jaymee Sire were also among those who were laid off.
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