Jason Whitlock leaves FOX Sports for ESPN

Controversial columnist Jason Whitlock is leaving FOX Sports to return to ESPN after spending six years writing for the LA-based sports network.

Whitlock confirmed the move via his Twitter account, where he thanked FOX Sports for allowing him to grow and sticking by him after his racist Jeremy Lin joke.

Today is my last day at Fox Sports. I want to thank David Hill and people at Fox for six great years of support. They allowed me to grow.

— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) August 14, 2013

And they stood by me during my Jeremy Lin meltdown. I wish FoxSports 1 a successful launch. Good group of hardworking people deserve success

— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) August 14, 2013

Seriously, looking forward to thanking a lot of people — at the top John Skipper, Rob King — for bringing me back to ESPN. #agreatday

— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) August 14, 2013

Whitlock last worked for ESPN in 2006. He left the network after sharing critical opinions of the network and some of his colleagues in a 2006 interview with The Big Lead. Whitlock was a regular on ESPN’s Page 2 section of the website, and the Sunday morning TV show “The Sports Reporters.” He also frequently served as a forum member and fill-in host on “Jim Rome is Burning.”

[Related: Jason Whitlock will be doing ‘black Grantland’ at ESPN]

The Big Lead, which broke news of Whitlock’s return to ESPN, says the move came together following a meeting between ESPN’s John Skipper and Whitlock in early August. Whitlock apparently had been working on a possible TV show for FOX Sports 1 called “Red, White and Truth,” where he would have been a host. FOX Sports 1 apparently is taking a “jockularity” approach to its network, while ESPN, with the hiring of Keith Olbermann, Nate Silver, and now Whitlock, seems to be pursuing more of an intellectual angle.