Max McGee’s departure from ESPN earlier this year largely flew under the radar.
But it appears we now know the reason behind the former SportsCenter anchor’s exit in February, with The Athletic reporting that it came “after the company received a complaint about him from a female employee, according to ESPN sources.”
While The Athletic’s reporting didn’t indicate the nature of the complaint that had been made against McGee, it was included in a report regarding former senior vice president of production Lee Fitting’s exit from ESPN. According to The Athletic, the former College GameDay producer was let go in August 2023 following a human resources investigation into Fitting’s alleged crude comments and behavior toward women. The revelation regarding McGee’s departure came amid a series of examples in the report depicting ESPN’s shifting approach in dealing with such behavior and accusations.
McGee told The Athletic that he had been advised not to comment on the matter and directed the outlet to a spokesperson who didn’t respond to multiple requests. Awful Announcing has reached out to McGee as well, but has yet to hear back.
A former sports anchor at Baltimore CBS affiliate WJZ-TV, McGee first arrived at ESPN in January 2022. The Temple alum’s hiring received plenty of fanfare due to his unique journey of going from being a college dropout to landing a job at the Worldwide Leader in Sports via Linkedin.
Five years ago, Max McGee was working as a server at The Capital Grille and Famous Dave’s after leaving college.
After 250 applications, he landed his first TV job.
In October, he got an ESPN audition through LinkedIn.
McGee just finished his first week with SportsCenter. pic.twitter.com/i2cIlM0t6D
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) February 9, 2022
This past April, McGee shared his demo reel on X, seemingly indicating at the time he was no longer at ESPN. The post has since been deleted.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.