June 6, 2025

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Front Office Sports

This week has featured several high-profile media feuds. From Michelle Beadle vs. Stephen A. Smith to Bill Simmons vs. Pablo Torre, we break down which have real heat and which are simmering.

—Michael McCarthy and Ryan Glasspiegel

Ranking Recent Sports Media Feuds, From Most to Least Serious

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Some posited that sports media feuds were a thing of the past. The past couple of weeks have proved them wrong.

Prominent sports media members from Stephen A. Smith and Michelle Beadle to Bill Simmons and Pablo Torre have been sniping at one another. Some of these beefs are just for fun; some are more serious. As sports media devolves into a Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest situation, it’s not good to come out on the losing end in the court of public opinion.

This comes on the heels of multiple public squabbles, including Ryan Clark vs. Robert Griffin III and Smith vs. LeBron James. These verbal brawls typically flare up in the summer, when there are fewer sports to dissect on talk shows and podcasts.

We ranked the recent shots fired from most contentious to least. And for our exclusive story with Beadle’s comments about Smith, just keep reading this newsletter.

No. 1: Stephen A. Smith vs. Michelle Beadle

This one has been raging since Wednesday after smoldering for more than a decade. It started when Beadle went off on her show about SiriusXM giving her Mad Dog Sports Radio weekday time slot to Smith—without a proper heads-up. In her first off-air interview after learning the news, Beadle doubled down to Front Office Sports, telling me there was “no love lost” between her and Smith since clashing at ESPN in 2014. “I don’t respect him. I don’t respect his work. He doesn’t like me,” she said.

Smith adamantly defended himself, albeit without citing Beadle by name. He called into Mad Dog Sports Radio on Wednesday to insist he had zero to do with SiriusXM management not telling Beadle and Cody Decker he was taking their time slot in September. “I don’t believe in blindsiding anybody. Or backstabbing anybody. You see me coming,” said Smith.

They’re both right. Chris “Mad Dog” Russo admitted his network should have been more upfront with Beadle and Decker. It also became clear Thursday that Smith had nothing to do with SiriusXM management hiding news of his specific hire from other on-air talents like Beadle.

On Thursday night, a SiriusXM spokesman told FOS they had “parted ways” with Beadle and Decker effective immediately. Mad Dog Sports Radio will employ a rotating cast of hosts and contributors until Smith debuts his new show on Sept. 2.

No. 2: Bill Simmons vs. Pablo Torre

The Sports Guy made the mistake of letting his Patriots fandom spur him to attack Torre’s fascinating reporting on the May-December relationship between 73-year-old Bill Belichick and 24-year-old Jordon Hudson.

Simmons fired the first shot, accusing Torre of milking their tabloid romance for attention. “I’ve never seen anybody dine on a stupider story for a week and a half while pretending you’re a journalist. What the fuck was that? Seriously?” he asked on his Rewatchables podcast.

Torre shot back on X/Twitter: “Dear @BillSimmons: Since you have such a strong public opinion about my work… I happen to have a few questions for you, specifically. Unless you’re afraid of @pablofindsout and someone just ‘pretending to be a journalist,’ of course. Thanks, Pablo.”

To his credit, Simmons invited Torre on his podcast to hash out their differences. Awful Announcing declared Torre the “decisive winner” after their conversation, during which Simmons admitted he hadn’t watched or listened to any of Torre’s full episodes on the topic.

Simmons and Torre seemed too chummy to really dislike each other. Plus, there are too many ties that bind these ex-ESPNers, from guest-hosting Pardon the Interruption to friends on the Ringer staff as well as at Meadowlark Media.

You can read the rest of Michael McCarthy’s media-beef rankings here.

EVENT

Like what you see? Join us Sept. 16 in New York City as we bring this newsletter to life for a day full of conversations with the biggest newsmakers in sports media. Our incredible lineup includes:

  • NBA commissioner Adam Silver
  • NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman
  • NFL media chief Brian Rolapp
  • ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro
  • ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith
  • TNT Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser
  • Amazon Prime Video global head of sports Jay Marine

Learn more and get your tickets here.

Michelle Beadle on Losing SiriusXM Slot to Stephen A. Smith: ‘I Don’t Respect Him’

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

“It’s a reminder: We’re just all pieces of shit to someone. If you forgot, there it is.”

That’s what an unplugged Michelle Beadle told FOS about the troubled state of sports media after learning that Stephen A. Smith was taking over her time slot on SiriusXM radio.

The outspoken Beadle was surprisingly good-humored after a rough Wednesday.

On one hand, she was still peeved after being “blindsided” by the news that Smith was taking over the Mad Dog Sports Radio time slot held by her and partner, Cody Decker, for the last two years.  

On the other hand, she said it was cathartic to be able to share her side of the story immediately while communing with loyal listeners.

“It was sort of therapeutic. … I thought we did a pretty cool show for two years,” she told Front Office Sports. 

On Wednesday morning, Smith broke the news on The Howard Stern Show that he was returning to Mad Dog Radio on Sept. 2 with two new shows: a weekday show from 1–3 p.m. ET that will replace Beadle and Decker’s program, and a weekly show covering current events, pop culture, and social commentary.

Leading up to Wednesday afternoon’s show, Beadle says she figured she was either going to be replaced by FS1 host Danny Parkins or punished for slamming Knicks owner James Dolan, who fired coach Tom Thibodeau. Instead, she read the Smith news in The Hollywood Reporter. During her show, she joked that Thibodeau was given more of a heads-up by the Knicks. 

“The Hollywood Reporter comes out—and there’s his face. I was like, I should have known. That was just kind of gross,” she says. “I don’t care that we’re being replaced or what have you. It happens all the time. But a little respect would have been nice. Good Lord. I was totally blindsided. Just really embarrassed, to be honest.”

Beadle admitted “there’s no love lost” between her and Smith, going back to the Ray Rice video in 2014. At the time, Beadle ripped Smith for his controversial comments on domestic violence on First Take in the wake of Rice’s violent assault on his now wife. Wrote Beadle on X/Twitter: “So I was just forced to watch this morning’s First Take. A) I’ll never feel clean again B) I’m now aware that I can provoke my own beating.” Smith apologized and was suspended for one week. 

The two have been at odds ever since, according to Beadle, the former cohost of Get Up, who ended up taking a buyout from ESPN in 2019. 

“I don’t respect him. I don’t respect his work. He doesn’t like me. This goes back to the Ray Rice stuff. He made some really piggish comments on the air. I responded; he got suspended for like two weeks. I think that was sort of the beginning of the end for anything,” she says. “I just don’t respect him. I think he gets things wrong all the time. I’m not talking about opinions; those can never be wrong. But factually, when you spread yourself so thin, it’s hard to be right. Not a fan.”

Over the last few years, Smith has introduced old radio colleague Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo to legions of new sports fans via his weekly appearances on the blockbuster First Take morning show. Host Molly Qerim calls his “What Is Mad Dog Mad About?” bit every Wednesday her favorite segment on the show. Now, Russo is returning the favor, hiring Smith for his radio empire. 

“To say that I’m excited would be an understatement,” Smith said in a statement Wednesday. “I’ve been on Mad Dog before, had the time of my life. So I’m loving the fact that I get to reunite with my guy, Mad Dog, on his turf.”

Beadle’s contract runs through August, but she and Decker were shown the door by SiriusXM three months before Smith’s show will begin.

Layoffs Hit The Ringer, Spotify

theringer.com

Layoffs have hit Spotify’s podcast division.

About 5% of the division, meaning roughly 15 employees, were laid off this week, a source told Front Office Sports. The cuts come as Spotify is focusing on bolstering video production, and approximately the same number of jobs are expected to be added there. 

Two employees at The Ringer, the multiplatform outlet that Bill Simmons founded in 2016 and Spotify acquired in 2020, announced they had been laid off. 

Claire McNear, who was an early hire at the outlet, wrote on X/Twitter: “time for an unfortunate media rite of passage: after 9 years at The Ringer, I was laid off this week. I’m gutted to leave, but grateful for my time there, the many wonderful folks I worked with over the years, and all the stories I got to tell.”

Writer and audio producer Jonathan Kermah, who joined The Ringer in 2020, also said he was among the cuts. “It hurts me to say that yesterday I was laid off from the Ringer after five years with the company. At 21 years old I was blessed with the opportunity to be an intern at my favorite website in the world doing work that I love. Who knew that it would turn into a five year journey,” Kermah wrote on X/Twitter. 

“Spotify does not comment on staffing changes,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

The Ringer recently added video shows hosted by Zach Lowe and Amy Poehler.

Around the Dial

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

  • Fox Sports No. 1 game analyst Tom Brady talked to Complex about why he’s still reluctant to criticize Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs, as well as other fellow QBs: “How can I throw shade at someone who is amazing as he is? I know what he’s been through, and I think the one position I’m in now as a broadcaster is I do feel responsibility … to tell the fans what I see and be honest and up front about everything. But also realize that what these guys are doing on the field is extremely difficult.”
  • NBA TV will offer nightly studio coverage of the NBA Finals. GameTime Live at the Finals will feature analysts such as Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith of TNT’s iconic Inside the NBA, as well as Grant Hill, Isiah Thomas, Candace Parker, Steve Smith, Brendan Haywood, and Channing Frye.
  • An ABC affiliate in Indiana inadvertently cut away from Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder in a tight game with about a minute remaining. The Pacers staged an incredible comeback punctuated by yet another clutch Tyrese Haliburton shot to win it.
  • Will Compton went on FOS Today earlier this week and explained the “bittersweet” decision to move Bussin’ With the Boys, the show he hosts with Taylor Lewan, from Barstool Sports to FanDuel.

One Big Fig

Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images

300 

Planned hours of programming by NBC Sports for its coverage of the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont from June 12–15. The network’s comprehensive coverage of the season’s third major golf tournament will appear across NBC, USA Network, and Peacock.

Question of the Day

Do you plan to check out Stephen A. Smith's SiriusXM shows once they begin in September?

 Yes   No 

Tuesday’s result: 54.1% of respondents believe “Inside the NBA” will function the same way once it begins airing on ESPN platforms.

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Written by Michael McCarthy, Ryan Glasspiegel
Edited by Or Moyal, Catherine Chen

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