Top editor Roxanna Scott reportedly out at ESPN

Roxanna Scott is out at ESPN.

Scott, who was hired to oversee the Worldwide Leader’s TV and digital news-gathering operation, lasted just eight months in the newly created role, according to Front Office Sports. As SVP and editor-in-chief, a title designed to consolidate ESPN’s editorial leadership under one person for the first time, Scott oversaw investigations and enterprise work and initially reported to Dave Roberts.

Roberts served as ESPN’s executive vice president and executive editor of sports news and entertainment, a role that put him in charge of the company’s entire news operation as well as all of its studio shows, digital shows, radio, and podcasts. Over the course of his career, Roberts played a major role in shaping ESPN’s coverage of the NBA and WNBA, and he was widely regarded as one of Stephen A. Smith’s chief internal advocates.

In April, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported that Roberts would be “retiring soon,” and the network later confirmed he’d remain in some capacity through the end of August.

Marchand reported at the time that rising production head Mike Foss was expected to inherit “an even larger portfolio.” Weeks later, ESPN made it official, naming Foss as Roberts’ successor effective immediately, with the two working in tandem through the handoff in the months since. Foss, who has held the title of SVP of studio and event production since 2023 and has steered the creative and operational direction of ESPN’s daily programming, now reports directly to ESPN content head Burke Magnus.

Details surrounding Scott’s departure were not made readily available, but Ryan Glasspiegel reported that her exit isn’t being characterized as part of a new round of layoffs, with her role instead eliminated as part of a broader reorganization. Scott’s path to ESPN ran through nearly two decades at USA Today, where she rose to executive editor and VP of sports, before a brief stop at The Athletic as managing editor of the daily desk earlier in 2025.

The position itself didn’t exist until ESPN’s editorial department was gutted of multiple leaders earlier in the year. Executive editor Cristina Daglas was placed on administrative leave in January following HR complaints, and her attorney sent ESPN a cease-and-desist letter in March alleging “unlawful harassment, retaliation, and investigation,” calling the proceedings “wholly meritless and unsubstantiated.” As of April of last year, Daglas was no longer with ESPN and has since joined Monumental Basketball as head of research and identity.

Senior deputy editor Elizabeth Baugh was swept up in the same probe, placed on leave during the Daglas investigation after OutKick reported that ESPN viewed her friendship with Daglas as a conflict serious enough to compromise the inquiry. Baugh didn’t stick around for the resolution; she left for Ring Magazine in April. The exodus claimed a third name as well, with Heather Burns, senior deputy editor for NFL coverage, departing the company for a role with USA Today.

As for Scott, her role, which was created to reshape ESPN’s editorial operation, now goes out the door alongside the executive who helped usher it in.