One of the more intriguing feuds in recent sports media history came to an unexpected end Tuesday.
The Bill Simmons–Pablo Torre clash had the potential to drag on, but the two former ESPNers finally buried the hatchet. The short-lived spat wrapped up with Torre landing the knockout punch, and on Simmons’ own platform, no less. Simmons admitted he hadn’t actually listened to the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcasts, including the carefully reported episodes about Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson, which Torre backed up with 11 verified sources.
As expected, everyone had an opinion on the fight. Awful Announcing broke down the feud point by point before declaring Torre the clear winner. Meanwhile, others in sports media took different angles, such as Jeff Pearlman, the renowned author and former Sports Illustrated columnist, who accused Simmons of lacking journalistic integrity because The Ringer accepts gambling money.
That said, Pablo Torre Finds Out, part of Meadowlark Media, has a partnership with DraftKings, though Torre’s platform reportedly plans to pursue its own separate licensing deal. Torre has defended doing journalism alongside a sports gambling company, but that debate runs parallel to the feud itself, which Pearlman broke down on his official TikTok page.
“As a veteran, veteran journalist, I’ve seen many media feuds through the years,” Pearlman began. “I’ve probably been involved in a couple here and there. I try to block them out of my mind because there’s nothing dumber than a media feud. It’s almost like an athlete feud, except weaker and stupider and with less teeth, because we’re all a bunch of wimps. Anyway, the one that’s going on right now is actually kind of funny, and it’s Bill Simmons and Pablo Torre.”
This all stemmed from Simmons ripping Torre’s reporting, which included him stating, “I’ve never seen anybody dine on a stupider story for a week and a half while pretending you’re a journalist.”
“I guess Simmons, who obviously loves all things Patriots and loves all things Belichick, has been annoyed about Pablo digging into sort of Belichick dating a 24-year-old,” Pearlman said. “…Here are the things: No. 1, I do agree there is a real overkill about the Belichick story. I mean, seriously, what are we doing here? I know people like talking about it. I get it generates clicks, and it generates views. But, like, come on. How often are we going to talk about this? How much can we possibly talk about? He’s dating a 24-year-old. It’s weird. We all know it’s weird. It’s legal. It’s weird. He’s the coach of North Carolina. It’s an interesting story. But how often can we talk about this? It’s definitely been overkill by Pablo and others. There’s no doubt about it.
“On the other hand, I really hate hearing Bill Simmons question anyone’s journalistic integrity when that guy has shown literally zero journalistic integrity throughout his career. And I have a lot of respect for Bill Simmons. I think he’s created something in media that’s remarkable. I do. He created a media empire. There’s no doubt about it. I think it’s remarkable. But, when you’re the Godfather of openly rooting for teams and players you cover and write about, shut the f*ck up about who’s a journalist and who’s not a journalist. You’re not a journalist. At all. Zero percent. You surrendered that a long time ago. And with that, I feel like you’ve surrendered your right to criticize other journalists for ‘being journalists.’ Like, you just can’t do that anymore.”
Pearlman might’ve found the story overcooked, but he also cooked Simmons, too. The New York Times best-selling author called out the hypocrisy of a lifelong fan-turned-media mogul questioning anyone’s journalistic chops.
“Also, not for nothing, your empire is really run by gambling money you’re taking,” Pearlman continued. “Like, non-stop gambling on The Ringer. Non-stop. Non-stop. Over and over again. ‘Brought to you by.’ Brought to you by.’ Brought to you by.’ If it weren’t for gambling and gambling shows, you probably wouldn’t exist anymore. And that’s blood money. Let’s just be honest; that is blood money you’re accepting to keep your thing going.
“So, I think, Pablo, it’s probably a little overkill. But Pablo is actually also a hell of a journalist. And a guy I respect a lot. And Simmons is a person I respect, but I feel like in this case, he’s just way off. And probably just needs to shut up on this one. Just my opinion. Not a hot take. Honest opinion.”
Pearlman filmed the TikTok before Simmons and Torre publicly buried the hatchet, but his commentary reflected the broader conversation at the time. He acknowledged the story may have been overplayed but still pushed back hard on Simmons’ questioning Torre’s credibility, all while pointing out that Simmons, given his role in blurring the line between journalism and fandom, may not be the ideal arbiter of journalistic standards.
Whether you agree with him or not, Pearlman summed up why these kinds of media feuds tend to catch on, especially with AA’s audience. They’re rarely high stakes, but they expose just how thin-skinned and territorial the sports media world can be.
And in calling out how The Ringer operates, he might’ve just sparked another one.