Michelle Beadle will no longer anchor ABC/ESPN’s NBA Countdown and may be out of job entirely on the self-named Worldwide Leader in Sports. As a formerly rising TV star in the sports industry, Beadle is now a three-time loser. She failed as a host on the NBC Sports Network, was essentially told to get lost as host of ESPN’s Get Up, and now she is done on Countdown. This is one case, however, of where someone who got woke doesn’t go broke. She may even collect her massive $5 million annual salary for another year perhaps for just sitting on the couch.
The Sports by Brooks website first reported in June that Beadle was on the way out, along with ex-NBA star panelists Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce
As part of her extensive TV resume, Beadle was a very successful co-host of ESPN’s SportsNation before jumping to NBC. Last August, Beadle disavowed football on the gridiron-centric, much hyped, New York City-based Get Up morning show for #MeToo-related reasons. She soon headed back to Los Angeles to take over NBA Countdown hosting duties. Former ESPN President John Skipper threw a lot of cash Beadle’s way to get her to relocate to the Big Apple.
Beadle’s rant promoted FS1 host Jason Whitlock to wonder if she would also disavow Hollywood and the entertainment industry generally.
The social justice warrior princess and outspoken feminist has a history of virtue signaling as does Jemele Hill, another expensive Skipper protegee who failed as co-host of what was derisively called WokeCenter, and who pocketed a big check to go away. You may recall that Hill accused President Trump of being a white supremacist.
“In July 2014, [Beadle] criticized ESPN colleague Stephen A. Smith on social media for comments he made about the Ray Rice domestic abuse case. The furor led to a week-long suspension of Smith,” Wikipedia recalled.
From New York Post columnist Andrew Marchand:
“When former ESPN president John Skipper resigned because of a cocaine problem, Beadle lost her most important backer at the company, a man who kept upping the ante to entice Beadle back to New York from Los Angeles for what turned out to be a failed stint on Get Up! Now, even though it’s unclear if she has one or two years left on her deal after some reworking upon her Get Up! escape, the fact is that either way, ESPN is still stuck with the crazy tab.
“Skipper’s All-Stars continue to lose clout in [new President Jimmy] Pitaro’s world. Last September, Jemele Hill was allowed to leave amicably, taking with her the $5 million left on the final two years of her deal. Hill’s former SportsCenter partner, Michael Smith, is still collecting his $2.5 million per year salary, but has been forced into gold-plated purgatory. Now, Beadle is on her way out, even if the exact timing is TBD…”
“Beadle made it up the ranks, starting on YES’s Nets broadcast, moving to ESPN New York radio’s The Michael Kay Show and transitioning to ESPN’s SportsNation with Colin Cowherd by being funny, personable and a real talent. By 2012, she first left ESPN to be a No. 1 option at NBC Sports and Access Hollywood.
“Almost the moment after she signed on with NBC, the folks there couldn’t wait to get rid of her, eventually letting her out of her contract. Skipper welcomed her back to ESPN and eventually paid her, oddly, $5 million per year. It is unclear if he was bidding against anyone.”
Marchand claims that “clock-punchr” Beadle lacked the “all-in” work ethic of either Rachel Nichols (who is rather woke herself) or Maria Taylor, both of whom will share NBA Countdown duties moving forward.
Beadle’s ascension to the basketball broadcast supplanted non-woke Sage Steele, suggesting that ESPN’s liberal politics might have been in play in the network’s decision-making. Steele now anchors SportsCenter from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters as well as handling other programming assignments.
When Pitaro took over, he made it clear that ESPN should stick to sports. The network, which experienced a big ratings decline in part because of its personalities alienating the audience by obsessively injecting a liberal agenda in sport coverage, still employs other anti-Trump grandstanders such as Don Le Batard, however.
Separately the Post is reporting that ESPN’s international division is laying off approximately 30 staffers, many of whom are on-the-air talent.
[Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain]