New York Post By Greg Joyce
Allison Williams is out at ESPN due to the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The college football and basketball sideline reporter, who announced last month she was opting out of the season because she had not received the vaccine as she and her husband tried for a second child, said Friday night that her “request for accommodation” had been denied.
Effective next week, Williams said, she will be “separated from the company.”
“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 in an Instagram video. “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 so 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, 37, has been at ESPN since 2011. She said she was trying to wrap her head around the idea that the national championship in January might have been the last college football game she will work.
According to the CDC, there is no evidence that shows any COVID-19 vaccines cause fertility problems.
Disney’s vaccine mandate — which also drew criticism from “SportsCenter” host Sage Steele, who eventually got vaccinated — is set go into effect on Friday.
