ESPN's Bill Simmons has been suspended after challenging the network to punish him for calling National Football League (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell a liar.
Slate reported that during last Monday's episode of Simmon's podcast "The B.S. Report," the ESPN talent called Goodell a liar about three times after bringing up Goodell's press conference.
"I don't like liars. Really, I think-just people who, when you know they're lying, and they're lying anyway. Those are the worst people. We know you're lying!" said the "Gratland" editor-in-chief during the podcast.
He continued, "I really hope somebody calls me or emails me and says I'm in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell, because if one person says that to me, I'm going public. You leave me alone. The commissioner's a liar and I get to talk about that on my podcast. Thank you. Please call me and say I'm in trouble. I dare you."
However, after his bold move, the network has apparently decided to let him know who is still in-charge.
According to TMZ, ESPN has announced on Wednesday that Simmons will be suspended for three weeks after ripping the commissioner.
"Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN's journalistic standards," stated the network announcement.
It continued, "We have worked hard to ensure that our recent NFL coverage has met that criteria. Bill Simmons did not meet those obligations in a recent podcast, and as a result we have suspended him for three weeks."
The network has also allegedly restricted their talent to speak about it on-air. TMZ reported that sources told them about the instruction.
"On a corporate level, they told us not to talk about it," revealed an insider to the site.
"Bill went too far. Remember, Disney runs this thing," said another source, adding, "You have got to know where you work at. It's not all about you."
Apparrently, the editor has heeded the instruction as he has not made any comments about the issue.
