Sports broadcaster who smeared Charlie Kirk FIRED by ESPN

ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, who smeared Charlie Kirk after the Turning Point USA founder was assassinated, has been fired from the sports network. Kirk was murdered on September 10, 2025. Tyler Robinson has been charged with his murder.

Ryan was fired in a round of layoffs, and posted to X afterwards, "Sending prayers and love to all those laid off today by ESPN. So many of you have poured your life into that company, & I know how you’re feeling right now. My hope is as this door closes another opens for you all. God bless!"

Clark was on "NFL Live" on Monday when he was informed of the layoffs, and did not finish the show, per The New York Times. Clark, who was a Pro Bowl and Super Bowl-winning safety, joined the network as an analyst in 2015.

Despite the reports of him getting laid off catching a lot of attention online, some brought up how he smeared Kirk in October 2025, just a few weeks after the assassination at Utah Valley University. 

Clark was critical of Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry in late October after the Louisiana governor erected a statue of the late political commentator on Louisiana State University campus, a college campus that Kirk was slated to speak at in October 2025.

Clark went on a rant during ESPN's "First Take" at the time. "First off, it’s the second most ridiculous thing he said this week. The first was standing on campus and saying he wanted to put a statue of somebody that doesn’t represent the people of Louisiana, doesn’t represent the players and the students at LSU, doesn’t represent the executives that work there," he said referring to Kirk. "That was the first dumb thing he said this week. This is the second dumb thing, amongst a lot of dumb things that he said."

Clark was earning over $2 million a year under his contract at ESPN, which was signed in February 2024. However, there were rumors that he was in danger of losing his job since February this year.