Paul Finebaum will not be addressing reports about his alleged “ban” from ESPN programming. At least, that’s how it seems.
On Monday, reports began to circulate about a purported ban that ESPN has put on Finebaum in the aftermath of his announcement that he was weighing a potential Senatorial run as a Republican in Alabama. Finebaum did not appear during several of his regularly scheduled ESPN segments last week after he shared his potential political ambitions with Clay Travis of Fox-owned sports and culture website Outkick. Finebaum did continue regular appearances on SEC Network.
Travis first reported the alleged ban on Monday, which was subsequently confirmed by other reporters including On3’s Pete Nakos.
ESPN, for its part, has vehemently denied the claims. The network’s public relations VP Bill Hofheimer characterized the reporting as “not true at all.” Later on Monday, Sports Business Journal reported that Finebaum is scheduled to appear on Tuesday’s edition of First Take. Outkick denied that report, saying that Finebaum has not been scheduled to appear on the ESPN morning show.
Despite all of the noise, Finebaum hosted his eponymous ESPN Radio show on Monday afternoon, which was simulcast on SEC Network as usual. However, it was clear the longtime voice of the SEC had no intentions of discussing any of the day’s reporting. Instead his show focused on college football as normal. That is, until one caller identified as Judge John wrapped up his call.
“The only other thing I wanted to say Paul was I saw a blurb that you’ve been pulled off some of the ES…” Judge John said before he was abruptly cut off.
After a five-second pause, Finebaum pretended nothing happened. “Okay, let’s continue here and talk to Don in Missouri. Hey Don, go right ahead,” he said.
It’s clear that Paul Finebaum had no desire to address the matter while on-air. And whether he’ll appear on Tuesday’s edition of First Take remains a mystery.
Other than one social media post from Hofheimer, ESPN has yet to address the matter through official channels, creating a lot of uncertainty over what is fact and what is fiction.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.