Report: WWE’s Lee Fitting fired from ESPN for misconduct that objectified women

In a new investigative article published Wednesday, former ESPN executive vice president of production and current WWE head of media and production Lee Fitting was fired by his former employer after being accused of years of behind-the-scenes misconduct, both sexual Women included both suggestive and objectifying comments.

WWE, owned by TKO, had no comment on the story to The Athletic/New York Times. Fitting was hired by WWE last January after being released by ESPN/Disney in late August 2023. He has been with ESPN for over 25 years and ran the network’s popular “College Gameday” show.

A fit complaint was made to ESPN’s human resources department, which led to further investigation. He was released shortly afterwards.

Through a spokesman, the 49-year-old denied some of the allegations against the media company, but did not address others. He also declined to comment on the broader characterization of him as someone who mistreated women during his tenure at ESPN or the reasons he was fired from the network.

The outlet spoke to more than 20 women, six of whom were interviewed as part of the HR investigation.

The allegations against Fitting detailed in the article include:

• In 2012, while interacting with employees, he commented on a non-employee’s ability to drink beer and said she was good at oral sex. He denied this.
• In 2014, he offered his lap to a woman as a seat after a production meeting ran out of chairs. He denied this happened.
• In 2018, he sent a female co-worker a text message that said, “You look hot.”
• He joked about conducting bed checks and “jokingly” asked a staff member her hotel room number. He denied this.
• He discussed and bragged about his and his wife’s sex life.
• “If he saw a woman in an outfit he liked, he would let her know, sometimes in a way that women and other employees found rude and/or demeaning.”
• Around 2017, an employee requested a meeting with Fitting in NYC to discuss options. She claimed he asked if he should get a hotel room for the night, which she interpreted as a room for the two of them. He said she misinterpreted the claim and he asked if she should get a conference room.

Addressing allegations that he commented on women’s looks/hairstyles/outfits, Fitting’s spokesperson said: “It was his job to provide male and female on-air talent with feedback on their appearance and on-air performance .”

In 2023, things began to turn against Fitting after a scandal broke out over fake Emmy Awards entries, which resulted in “College Gameday” receiving 30 statues that they never actually won. He was banned from future Emmy participation and shortly thereafter, Human Resources began the aforementioned investigation.

From the article:

“Several people said they described instances to a human resources official in which they believed Fitting had behaved inappropriately and/or discriminated against women. Two current ESPN executives briefed on the outcome of the personnel investigation said the results left the company no choice but to let Fitting go.

Fitting, through his spokesman, declined to explain the reasons for ESPN’s termination of his employment.”