Ex-ESPN employee involved in masturbating scandal

I met Keith Clinkscales in 2005 or 2006 while I was a student at Florida State University, taking my journalism classes at Florida A&M University. I don't remember the specifics, but I recall being extremely excited that my professor and mentor Joe Ritchie had invited me to a small group meeting with an ESPN executive, which was aimed at encouraging budding sports journalists.

Five or six years later and Clinkscales now joins the ranks of an increasing number of ESPN employees involved in sex scandals. Unlike the likes of MLB analyst Steve Phillips, who engaged in a sexual affair with a network production assistant turned stalker, or NFL analyst Jeremy Green, who was busted for child pornography and drug charges, Clinkscales is accused of not only physical assault on a fellow employee but also masturbating in an airplane to another employee. That employee? None other than Erin Andrews, the notably sexy college football sideline reporter. Can Andrews' tenure at ESPN get any more plagued? You may remember she was unknowingly taped in the nude through the peephole of her hotel room by a stalker. And as if that wasn't creepy enough, now an alleged masturbating incident by a vice president within her workplace?

Photo illustration of Keith Clinkscales and Erin Andrews courtesy Deadspin

Thanks to the editorial team at Deadspin, the website known for breaking the Brett Favre sexting scandal involving former FSU Cowgirl Jenn Sterger, the public is now aware of a defamation lawsuit by Clinkscales against the woman he believes leaked the unreported and unpublished masturbating event to the site. I won't go into the details of this story, you can read it here. But I will point out that according to the article, Andrews confirmed the incident happened, but didn't want to report it for fear of losing her job especially in the wake of her very public nude video.

Clinkscales, innocent or not,  has been plagued by negative incidents despite his brilliant works. At Vibe magazine, where he worked before ESPN, there were allegations of intimidation on the magazine's staff. At ESPN, he's credited with discovering ESPN anchor Sage Steele and writer/contributor Jemele Hill. He was also behind some of the network's successful creations like its 30 for 30 documentary series and the magazine's Body issue, which I believe was created to mirror the success of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit edition. So it's definitely a red flag that he would leave the network's successful content development section, which he headed, to become an independent producer. Even more telling is ESPN's decision to close the division in the wake of his departure.

When Clinkscales, also a FAMU alum, left that boardroom after speaking to my group, I wished he had taken note of me. I wished he had seen the potential in me, as he did with Steele and Hill, and tabbed me as a future star. But as this allegation surfaces and his track record as an executive emerges, maybe it's not so bad that I wasn't discovered by him.

So what say you? You think Clinkscales is innocent or guilty? Meanwhile, you can find more about ESPN's sex scandals, including NBA moderator Mike Tirico's, here.