“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 timeslot 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 timeslot 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 Sep. 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 that “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 co-host 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 said she’ll report to work on Thursday. Her current contract runs through August, but she expects to finalize a buyout before then. She won’t go off on a rant. But she won’t avoid the Stephen A. story either.
“We’ll show up. We’ll have a hockey game to react to—and a basketball game to preview. I can’t help the callers. I’ll be honest with you: they’re crazy. So whatever happens, happens. But we won’t entice them to do it, I guess.”
In most cases, when on-air hosts are fired, they have to go quiet for contractual reasons, noted Beadle. See Max Kellerman, who’s been in veritable Witness Protection since getting dropped from First Take. That’s why Beadle says she loved letting it all hang out with her listeners on Wednesday. She promises to do the same as long as her SiriusXM show remains on air.
“My Dad said it was my best show yet. Thanks, Pop. Thanks for listening,” she jokes.
English (US) ·