Former NBA star Paul Pierce made headlines back in April after ESPN fired him for sharing an Instagram Live video at a house party while strippers danced in the background.
In a conversation on Nov. 19, with former ESPN host Michelle Beadle on her new podcast, “What Did I Miss?” Paul Pierce spoke candidly with Beadle about his exit from ESPN and how he is completely unfazed by it.
“You and I both left ESPN. I left quietly. You decided to leave with a retirement video with strippers,” Beadle told Pierce.
“I kinda went out with a bang,” Pierce responded as the two laughed.
Beadle went on to ask Pierce what his plan was when he posted the lewd video for his nearly 900k Instagram followers.
“That wasn’t really my plan, but I wasn’t tripping,” Pierce explained. “I was just like, ‘You know what, at the end of the day, I am retired.’ I was tired of them anyway, truthfully. I don’t got nothing against them, but I was getting bored there. Stuff was changing all the time and it just wasn’t the same feel like it was when we was doing it.”
In a September interview with Sports Illustrated, Pierce alluded to his work schedule and topic selection at ESPN being points of contention.
Pierce added that he didn’t understand how the Instagram Live feature worked at the time.
“I didn’t know other people could record your Instagram, so I just thought a few people were going to see it,” Pierce said.
