ESPN Secured Emmys With Years-Long Fake-Name Scheme
variety.comBrian Steinberg Senior TV Editor ESPN has disciplined members of its staff who worked for years to secure Emmys for on-air personnel who were not normally eligible for the awards by using fake names and entering them in various categories, according to an investigation by The Athletic.
The probe found that ESPN has for more than a decade inserted fake personnel names in entries to win more than 30 Emmys, then took the awards, removed the fraudulent nameplates and had the statues engraved anew so they could be given to on-air staff.
Among those who were given the ill-gotten awards are Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard and Samantha Ponder.
Much of the activity seems to center around “College GameDay,” the Disney-backed sports-media outlet’s very popular college-football program. “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.
Read more on variety.com