Pablo Torre and Bill Simmons officially have sports media beef.
Taking to X on Monday, Torre reposted an article from Awful Announcing (hey, that’s us) about Simmons’ comments regarding his reporting on Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson. In doing so, the Meadowlark Media host offered an invitation for The Sports Guy to join him on an episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, noting that he has “a few questions” for Simmons.
“Dear @BillSimmons: Since you have such a strong public opinion about my work… I happen to have a few questions for you, specifically,” he wrote. Unless you’re afraid of @pablofindsout and someone just ‘pretending to be a journalist,’ of course. Thanks, Pablo.”
Torre’s quote about “pretending to be a journalist” was a direct reference to the comments that Simmons made during an episode of The Rewatchables last week, which focused on the 1973 film “Heaven Can Wait” (naturally). As co-hosts Chris Ryan and Van Lathan discussed a plot point involving the character Leo Farnsworth, Simmons took the opportunity to rip Torre’s recent reporting regarding Belichick and Hudson, as well as the ex-ESPN writer’s subsequent media appearances.
“Pablo Torre would’ve done a long podcast about Leo Farnsworth trying to practice with the team, and then done a media tour about it afterwards,” Simmons said. “I’ve never seen anybody dine on a stupider story for a week and a half while pretending you’re a journalist. What the f*ck was that? Seriously.”
“Belichick’s dating a girl. ‘Oh, let me do nine shows about it,’” The Ringer founder later added. “Settle the f*ck down.”
Both Ryan and Lathan seemed surprised that Simmons was going after Torre with such apparent animosity, with Ryan even questioning whether the Boston native would have had the same reaction if Belichick didn’t happen to be the ex-head coach of his beloved New England Patriots. Simmons proceeded to state that his biggest issue was with Torre’s “media tour,” which included multiple interviews and features in publications including Vanity Fair and The Athletic.
Regardless of whether you agree with Simmons that the Belichick-based reporting has been over the top, it would be tough to argue that Torre responding with an invitation to come on his podcast wasn’t a wise move. If Simmons declines, he looks like he’s ducking Torre and just lobbing shots from afar. If he accepts, Torre instantly gets to lay claim to one of the most highly anticipated sports media podcasts in recent memory.
There is also the possibility, or perhaps the likelihood, that Simmons addresses Torre’s reply but does so without accepting the invitation to join his podcast. Either way, it’s a safe bet that this is the biggest sports media feud to have ever started on a podcast about a 47-year-old movie stemming from the reporting on a relationship with a 49-year age gap.