‘Get Up’ Host Michelle Beadle Is Off the Show After Saying She No Longer Watches Football
“I’ve lost the ability to be surprised.”
ESPN’s morning show Get Up hasn’t done all that well for the network, and now there’s some evidence things won’t improve, as host Michelle Beadle is out.
There hasn’t been any admission that she’s off the show because—as she admitted in the video above—she doesn’t even watch pro or college football. The timing is a little suspicious, though, especially given her words didn’t land well with some. But—Beadle isn’t leaving the network. Her new gig has nothing to do with football.
USA Today‘s “The Big Lead” reports:
Beadle will also be a part of a new NBA post-game show launching this fall. The new show will be called After The Buzzer, and will air after Wednesday and Friday doubleheaders on ESPN. ESPN is also launching a new pregame show called NBA Courtside, airing between Countdown and games for 15 minutes live from the arenas.
In case you didn’t watch the video, there’s a partial transcript below. Beadle was reacting to news that Ohio State coach Urban Meyer allegedly lied about knowledge that his wide receivers coach Zach Smith was accused of domestic abuse:
There’s a reason why this will be the second season I don’t watch NFL and I don’t spend my Saturdays watching college football either. I believe that the sport of football has set itself up to be in a position where it shows itself in the bigger picture to not really care about women — they don’t really care about people of color, but we won’t get into that for NFL either — but as a woman I feel like a person who has been marginalized.
. . . [Every] single one of these stories that comes out, every single time, pushes me further and further away. I realize they don’t care, but for me it’s opened up my weekends. I appreciate you for giving that to me. I don’t care anymore. I’ve lost the ability to be surprised.
It’s easy to see Beadle’s point of view here, though some would certainly argue she shouldn’t paint all of football with the same broad brush.
Still, given that football is ESPN’s bread and butter sport, it’s no big surprise if they did want her moved well away from viewers who objected to her statements.