Jason Whitlock, the controversial, award-winning sports columnist, is leaving the KC Star to “pursue other interests.”

Whitlock’s departure is a damaging blow to the Star, which lost columnist Joe Posnanski to Sports Illustrated last August. Whitlock, who also writes a column for Fox Sports, has had a busy summer – just not for the Star. His last column at the paper was back in May, and he was conspicuously absent from the entire Big 12 expansion quasi-story in June. In July, he penned this missive for us*, and some speculated that if you read between the lines, there were some thinly veiled shots at his former sports editor, Mike Fannin, who has been the paper’s editor for two years. (Making the story even more bizarre, KC Confidential has floated “rumors” about Fannin and the recently-departed Sports Editor, Holly Lawton.)

After Lawton resigned, the speculation was that Whitlock won a power struggle with her, and he would begin writing again. Guess not. We sent an email to Whitlock this morning, but he has not responded. Let the speculation about his future begin. Radio show with Fox Sports? TV show with HBO? (Remember, Stephen A. Smith might be getting one at Showtime.)

*Whitlock’s history with this site is a fun one. Back in 2006, this memorable interview he did with us ended up with him losing his side-gig at ESPN (PTI on the TV side; Page 2 on ESPN.com).