Lee Fitting reportedly fired from ESPN due to abuse allegations, WWE issues no comment

On December 18, 2024By Littum

A new report from Katie Strang and Andrew Marchand of The Athletic states that former ESPN producer Lee Fitting was fired from the company amid allegations of misconduct.

According to the report, “Fitting made comments that objectified women, criticized their physical appearance and made crude jokes, some of a sexual nature.” A complaint was filed against Fitting in 2023. He was dismissed from the company in August 2023.

Fitting had been with ESPN for over 25 years, notably producing ESPN College GameDay.

From The Athletic:

Around 2012, some ESPN employees were watching the NCAA men’s basketball tournament from a conference room in Bristol when Fitting allegedly commented on a woman (who was not present and did not work at ESPN) and her ability to “open her throat” a beer, then joked with that the woman would be good at performing fellatio, according to a person present. (The Athletic also spoke with a former ESPN employee, who the person present told about the alleged comment.) Fitting said through his spokesman that this incident never happened.

At a production meeting around 2014, there were no chairs available for a woman on staff. Fitting patted her on the lap and told her, “I have a seat right here for you,” according to one person in the room and another person who was told of the remark by another attendee. Fitting denied this claim. A female ESPN employee said Fitting sent her a text around 2018 that said, “You look hot.” She showed the text to a producer who remembered the woman’s hand when she showed the producer the message.

On more than one occasion, he jokingly asked a female employee for her hotel room number and also routinely joked about performing bed checks, according to “College GameDay” staffers. Fitting denied these claims. He also reportedly bragged about his and his wife’s robust sex life, according to multiple sources.

When he saw a woman in an outfit he liked, he would tell her so, sometimes in ways that women and other employees found crude and/or humiliating. He once loudly exclaimed “Damn it!” when a woman appeared on set in a skirt he liked. These types of comments were so frequent that one female “College GameDay” staffer developed a strategy to blunt her behavior. Whenever he said or did something inappropriate, she opened a notebook and pretended to write something down. When Fitting asked what she was doing, she replied, “Just write this down for the book.”

Many women who worked on “College GameDay” and during Fitting elsewhere at ESPN said they felt pressured to go out drinking and tolerate the inappropriate remarks, worried that if they didn’t come out as members of the boys’ club, they would be ostracized. Sometimes, before or after saying something crude or sexist, Fitting would use a phrase — “It’s okay, she’s one of the guys” — to justify why his remark was allowed, sources said. When a female employee left the show, Fitting dismissed her as “no fun” in front of a group of employees, according to a person present.

Some women who appeared on camera were told by Fitting how to style their hair, how much makeup to wear, what outfits he approved or disapproved of. He sometimes referred to aspects of their bodies that he advised them to hide.

One woman said that one day, when she and Fitting were working at different locations, he had seen her on an internal feed and texted her that he liked her hair in a ponytail. She brushed off the comment, but he wrote again: “Put your hair up in a ponytail.” The woman replied that she had already been in hair and makeup for the day, to which she said Fitting replied, “Put your hair up in a ponytail before I do it for you.” (Fitting refused, saying he would put her hair up if she didn’t.)

Another woman said Fitting, in addition to commenting on her makeup and wardrobe, told her to stop laughing on air because he found her laughing annoying. (The Athletic spoke with someone she later told about that exchange.)

“You already have these things in the back of your mind. And then when someone doesn’t think you can move forward in your career because you don’t check a box, that awareness can become an insecurity,” said one woman.

Fitting said through his spokesperson that it was his job to provide feedback to male and female on-air talent regarding their appearance and on-air delivery.

Fitting commented on how women looked so often that judging women in that way became woven into how he ran the show. In the production truck, he would direct people to scan the crowd for “hot” women who could be featured on the broadcast, according to several people who worked with him. In 2012, “College GameDay” was in South Bend, Ind., for an October game between Notre Dame and Stanford. Fitting had a problem with the audience image behind the studio set: the Notre Dame cheerleaders in the recording were not attractive enough. They were no cheerleaders in Oregon, he noted. (Fitting had a particular fondness for Oregon cheerleaders, several people said, citing comments he made about them spanning years). When Fitting ordered the Irish cheerleaders to cut the shot, no one batted an eye.

Another ESPN employee said she asked to meet with Fitting to discuss career options on three occasions. Every time he asked her to meet him for drinks, she said. She declined, saying other women at ESPN told her not to meet with Fitting alone outside of work. Another female employee said: “Women had warned each other to be aware of interactions with him.” Fitting said through his spokesman that it was common for him to have drinks with men and women as part of his job.

Fitting was hired by WWE to produce WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown in January 2024.

Fitting, via a spokesperson for The Athletic, denied some of the allegations against him, while choosing not to address others. He declined to comment on the broader characterization of him as someone who mistreated women during his tenure at ESPN or why he was let go by the network.

A WWE spokesperson told The Athletic that the company had no comment on the allegations against Fitting.

WWE is named in an active lawsuit filed by former employee Janel Grant, who accused Vince McMahon of sexual assault and sex trafficking.