Byron Nelson
Two years had passed since Paul Pierce’s abrupt termination from ESPN, but the memory of it still lingered in his mind. He couldn’t help but wonder what he did wrong to get fired from the sports network. He was still puzzled, even after all this time.
On a podcast appearance with the “I Am Athlete” crew, Pierce talked about his situation, trying to make sense of what had happened. The crew jokingly mentioned that he was fired on his day off, reminiscent of the movie “Friday.”
“I got fired for what?” Pierce asked. “I got fired for having some entertainment. I’m playing cards. It’s my boy’s birthday. It’s girls dancing. We’re blowing some tree. What did I do wrong?”
Pierce was caught playing poker, smoking marijuana, and being surrounded by exotic dancers in a video he posted on Instagram. He claimed that he was just having some entertainment on his friend’s birthday, and it was just a harmless activity. But the video’s content was deemed inappropriate by ESPN and Disney, which has a morals clause that the network had to abide by.
Marijuana is legal in California, where the video was shot, but it still didn’t help Pierce’s case. The video was a violation of ESPN’s policy and put the network in a bad light.
“I don’t ever go live either, I was just feeling my [hair] cut or something, and then it was popping behind me,” Pierce said.
“At the end of the day, it’s Disney, and they have a morals clause, and they just said it was immoral,” Pierce explained.
