ESPN is conducting mass layoffs this week, but no, Jay Bilas won’t be affected by them.
Bilas joined ESPN in 1995 and immediately established himself as one of the best college basketball analysts in the business, earning nine Emmy nominations. Prior to becoming a broadcaster for the Worldwide Leader in Sports, he was a four-year starter for Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils.
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Once it was revealed that ESPN was parting ways with a few top on-air broadcasters, a parody account pretending to be CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein said Bilas was being let go. That social media post racked up over 1.6 million views in less than 12 hours.
Arash Markazi of The Sporting Tribune confirmed that Bilas isn’t being laid off by ESPN. Unfortunately, parody accounts are using this brutal situation as an opportunity to generate clicks on X.
“Jay Bilas is still employed by ESPN,” Markazi said. “He will not be impacted by the layoffs taking place this week.”
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HONOLULU, HI – NOVEMBER 22: ESPN college basketball announcer Jay Bilas on air before a college basketball game against the Tennessee Volunteers during the consolation game of the Allstate Maui Invitational at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on November 22, 2023 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
Who has been laid off by ESPN?
According to multiple reports, Ryan Clark, Cam Newton, Tom Pelissero and Karl Ravech were let go by ESPN.
Andrew Marchand of The Athletic said ESPN informed Clark of his fate during Monday afternoon’s episode of “NFL Live.”
“Sources at ESPN say the reason they told Clark during the show was due to media inquiries into his departure and a fear that the news would leak out before they could inform him. Since after the Super Bowl in February, sources had told The Athletic that Clark’s job could be in jeopardy. Last week, The Athletic learned that Clark was likely to be let go,” Marchand wrote. “ESPN’s plan was to do that on Tuesday morning, but after receiving calls on the matter chose to inform him during his show as they did not want him to read it online before being told in person.”
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Hopefully, everyone who was let go by ESPN quickly lands on their feet.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Jul 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Basketball section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
