Credit: ESPN
By Sam Neumann on

Linda Cohn fired back at Keith Olbermann on Friday after the former ESPN anchor called her a “self-obsessed, politically motivated clown” for defending Auston Matthews’ decision to visit the White House following Team USA’s Olympic gold medal.

“Amazing that you describe me how the world actually describes you,” Cohn wrote on X. “What happened to you? Gaslighting and bullying a former colleague? Is that really your thing now? It’s really sad and disappointing. Everyone knows you’ve been irrelevant since you left sports and decided to share your uninvited warped world views with the rest of us. You sound bitter and miserable. I hope you get the help you need.”

Olbermann has since responded with a hearty “lol.”

The spat has its origins on Wednesday, when Toronto Star columnist Damien Cox published a piece arguing that Matthews — the Arizona-raised captain of the Maple Leafs — had put Donald Trump ahead of his team by flying to Washington for the White House celebration of Team USA’s Olympic gold medal rather than resting ahead of a critical stretch of the NHL season. Cox wrote that Matthews “failed in every respect as captain of the Leafs.” Cohn took exception to that framing, first in a comment on the Star’s post (“If this is how Leafs fans feel, if I’m Auston Matthews, I’d take control of my life and go where I’m wanted”) and then in a quote-tweet where she told the columnist to “be better.”

That drew Olbermann into the fray. He screenshotted Cohn’s post and wrote: “Hate to finally break it to you. I’d say ‘be better’ to you but it’s an impossibility. You’re a self-obsessed politically motivated clown who thinks HER leanings are sacrosanct and everyone else’s must be suppressed. We’ve indulged you all these years. That now ends.”

Olbermann has been largely absent from traditional sports media since leaving ESPN in October 2020 to launch a political YouTube series. He has since been running a daily podcast, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, on iHeartRadio, and remains active on X, where his posts have regularly attracted attention and controversy. As we noted in the original piece on the Olbermann-Cohn spat, this isn’t the first time he’s gone after a current ESPN personality this year. In January, he called on ESPN to fire Stephen A. Smith over his comments on an ICE shooting, prompting an extended on-air response from Smith. That came after he similarly called for the network to fire Pat McAfee in March 2025 over Canada-related comments.

As for Cohn, she’s been with ESPN since 1992 and has become one of the most enduring figures in the network’s history, anchoring her 5,000th SportsCenter in 2016 and earning induction into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame in 2017. Her tenure hasn’t been without friction, either. In 2017, she drew the ire of then-ESPN president John Skipper after a radio appearance in which she suggested the network’s political coverage had alienated its core audience, reportedly resulting in a day off that stopped short of a formal suspension. More recently, her role at ESPN was briefly in flux after the network shuttered its Los Angeles-based SportsCenter in 2025, but she landed back in Bristol, anchoring the show and handling features and special projects. She has also done studio work for the Seattle Kraken.

The two last shared a desk in 2018, when Cohn and Olbermann were briefly reunited on SportsCenter, framed as a throwback moment for the network — the same year he and Dan Patrick did their own surprise reunion episode. Olbermann continued in various ESPN roles until his 2020 departure.

Whatever goodwill that reunion generated appears to have run its course.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann