ESPN has come under fire for giving Caitlyn Jenner the Arthur Ashe Courage award and now this report added fuel to the fire.  Representatives of Caitlyn Jenner reportedly negotiated her ESPYs award in exchange for PR plugs in her upcoming TV series and threatened to pull out of her 20/20 interview if it didn’t happen.  Reports have emerged that Jenner’s team approached ESPN with the idea that she win the Arthur Ashe Courage Award just as details were being finalized for her 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC.

ABC and ESPN are both owned by Disney, and ABC aired Wednesday’s awards ceremony.

‘It was a brilliant move because the executives at ESPN loved the idea, and immediately began making sure it got done,’ a source familiar with the negotiations told RadarOnline.

The talks hit a stumbling block, and Jenner’s agents were reportedly prepared to pull out of the interview with Sawyer.

‘It was ironed out, and ABC owns one of the biggest stories of the year.’

The build up to Jenner accepting the award will be featured in her upcoming reality show, “I am Cait”, generating a great deal of publicity for both ESPN and the awards.

“That rumor is completely false,” ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. “The Arthur Ashe Courage Award and ABC interview were never connected.”

Jenner’s publicist Alan Nierob called the report “utterly false” and had no further comment.

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