The public relations fallout continues from ESPN's ridiculous decision to pull Asian-American announcer Robert Lee from a University of Virginia game after the horrific events in Charlottesville — and the network is clearly very worried about it, as a leaked company-wide memo from ESPN President John Skipper indicates.

ESPN has already issued two official responses defending their rationale (the second of which is not just ridiculous but insulting). Skipper's email on Wednesday to his employees (posted online by John Ourand) is more evidence that the company is in crisis management mode over the embarrassing story. Skipper's attempt to unify the message, however, plays about as well as the company's previous lame attempts.

In the memo, Skipper insists that Lee was not scrubbed for fear of offending anyone. No, it was all about protecting their employee from vicious online trolls.

"Given the amount of media attention being generated by one of the countless, routine decisions our local production teams make every day, I wanted to make sure you have the facts," he begins. "There was never any concern — by anyone, at any level — that Robert Lee’s name would offend anyone watching the Charlottesville game."

The real motivation behind the decision was not fear of offense but fear of "social hectoring and trolling."

"Among our Charlotte production staff there was a question as to whether — in these divisive times — Robert’s assignment might create a distraction, or even worse, expose him to social hectoring and trolling," he continues. "Since Robert was their primary concern, they consulted with him directly. He expressed some personal trepidation about the assignment and, when offered the chance to do the Youngstown State/Pitt game instead, opted for that game — in part because he lives in Albany and would be able to get home to his family on Saturday evening."

Thus, like ESPN's previous statement, Skipper places the burden of the decision on Lee, who he says was feeling "some personal trepidation" ahead of the game. The network was swooping in to protect their employee, not concerned about sensitive viewers being offended by having to hear the name of the Confederate general.

"I’m disappointed that the good intentions of our Charlotte colleagues have been intentionally hijacked by someone with a personal agenda, and sincerely appreciate Robert’s personal input and professionalism throughout this episode," Skipper concluded.

Yeah, ESPN's panicking.

Here's the full text of Skipper's memo: