ESPN Returns Emmys and Disciplines Staff After Submitting for Awards Under Fake Names
CNN via KRDO | 1-12-24 | Oliver Darcy and Liam Reilly

ESPN returned dozens of Emmy statues and “disciplined” employees after an investigation disclosed Thursday found that the sports network had submitted fake names to the awards organization in a bid to secure trophies for on-air personalities who had been ineligible to receive them.

Hey, Walrus: are we allowed to “discipline” staff?

The apparent fraud stretched back to 1997, ESPN said in a statement, acknowledging that members of its team “were clearly wrong” for concocting the scheme.

“Some members of our team were clearly wrong in submitting certain names that may go back to 1997 in Emmy categories where they were not eligible for recognition or statuettes,” an ESPN spokesperson said in a statement. “This was a misguided attempt to recognize on-air individuals who were important members of our production team. Once current leadership was made aware, we apologized to NATAS for violating guidelines and worked closely with them to completely overhaul our submission process to safeguard against anything like this happening again.”

IMAO statement:

“This was a Miss-guided attempt to recognize airhead individuals who were important members of our reproduction team. Once current leadership was made aware, we apologized to Miss Welch and the rest for violating guidelines and worked too closely with them to completely overhaul our submission process (if you know what we mean) to safeguard against anything like this happening or becoming public again.”