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Reporter Allison Williams Leaving ESPN Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

ESPN's Steve Levy was tending during the Rams-Cardinals Super Wild Card Playoff game over his ridiculously weird pronunciation of "Marvel"

FILE — This Aug. 13, 2020 file photo shows a logo for ESPN on a remote control, in Portland, Ore. The sports media giant announced Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2020, that it is cutting about 500 jobs from its global workforce and laying off approximately 300 employees. The company said the cuts are due in large part to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business and the “tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports.” (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, FIle)

No shot Allison Williams is going to work at ESPN ever again.

ESPN reporter Allison Williams is leaving the mothership after choosing not to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Williams said Friday on Instagram.

Disney has implemented a coronavirus mandate for all employees that will go into effect Thursday. Williams said last month that she was unvaccinated and planned to remain that way while she and her husband were trying to have a second child.

Williams said in a video that she was denied a “request for accommodation” from ESPN, and that she will be “separated” from the company next week.

“Belief is a word I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, because in addition to the medical apprehensions regarding my desire to have another child in regards to receiving this injection, I am also so morally and ethically not aligned with this,” Williams said. “And I’ve had to really dig deep and analyze my values and my morals, and ultimately I need to put them first.

“And the irony in all this is that a lot of those same values and principals I hold dear are what made me a really good employee and probably helped with the success that I’ve been able to have in my career.”

Williams said she isn’t sure what’s next for her career, but that she’s hopeful to get back to a sideline again soon.

“I’m trying to wrap my head around the thought that the largest game I worked in my career, the national championship game, might be the last college football game I work,” she said. “But I’m going to focus on what I have to be thankful for. I’m going to hold onto my faith. I’m going to pray that things get better, and that I can see you on the television set in some capacity, in some stadium, covering some game soon.”

Maybe she can land a job at a station that doesn’t mandate a vaccine for its employees.

Best of luck.


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