SiriusXM has parted ways with hosts Michelle Beadle and Cody Decker after Beadle railed against Stephen A. Smith when she discovered the ESPN star was replacing her and Decker’s show on Mad Dog Sports Radio.
Beadle confirmed the news on social media shortly after The Athletic reported that SiriusXM had fired the two hosts and immediately canceled their program.
“And we’d like to thank the callers who made the last couple of days an absolute blast!! Truly. You don’t usually get such love on your way out. Security usually walks ya to the door,” she tweeted on Thursday evening, thanking the program’s listeners. “You guys rule. 6 hours of how you felt. And you all were heard! Drinks on me…[Cody Decker].”
The split was the final exclamation point on a saga that began Wednesday morning when Smith announced on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show that he was joining the network and would be launching two separate shows in September, both for Chris “Mad Dog” Russo’s channel.
While one program is a weekly broadcast focusing on pop culture and social commentary, which continues Smith’s trajectory into political punditry, the other show will replace the mid-afternoon program that Beadle and Decker co-hosted. Beadle, who worked with Smith at ESPN until 2019, took to the air on Wednesday to inform listeners that the news blindsided her and Decker.
“It was a little embarrassing! I’m not gonna lie,” she groused. “I’ve been in this business for 20-plus years. I’ve been treated poorly a couple of times. This didn’t feel good. I’m not gonna lie.”
However, it was her comments to Front Office Sports later in the day – in which she reiterated she was “blindsided” by the announcement – that ramped up the drama and led to the network cutting ties with Beadle and Decker before Smith takes over their timeslot later this year.
“I don’t respect him. I don’t respect his work. He doesn’t like me. This goes back to the Ray Rice stuff,” she said, noting “there’s no love lost” between her and Smith following “really piggish comments” he made about the Rice video in 2014.
At the time, Smith seemingly defended the Baltimore running back after a clip surfaced of him violently knocking out his then-fiancée in a hotel elevator. Beadle publicly criticized Smith for his controversial comments, saying she was “now aware that I can provoke my own beating.” Smith would later apologize for the rant and was suspended for a week by ESPN.
“I think that was sort of the beginning of the end for anything,” Beadle added during her FOS interview. “I just don’t respect him. I think he gets things wrong all the time. I’m not talking about opinions; those can never be wrong. But factually, when you spread yourself so thin, it’s hard to be right. Not a fan.”
Thursday’s show, meanwhile, ended up being the last one hosted by Decker and Beadle on Mad Dog Sports Radio. According to The Athletic, the network plans to rotate different hosts in that time slot until Smith’s show debuts in September.
Smith, who has since claimed he was unaware that nobody had told Beadle and Decker beforehand that he was replacing them, has featured Russo regularly on his ESPN debate show First Take for the past few years. The weekly “What Is Mad Dog Mad About?” segments have helped introduce Russo, a former colleague of Smith’s, to millions of new fans.
“I’m loving the fact that I get to reunite with my guy, Mad Dog, on his turf,” Smith said in a statement announcing the new shows, adding: “September can’t come soon enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in radio…especially going back and forth with the callers. Can’t wait to get re-started. Buckle Up! I’m coming!”
Smith’s return to radio comes after he signed a long-term deal worth $100 million to continue hosting First Take. His new ESPN contract, which represents a significant pay raise, allows him to scale back his other obligations at the network so he can focus more energy on political commentary and other business ventures, such as his podcast.
Meanwhile, this all comes as Smith has repeatedly floated the possibility of running for president in 2028 on the Democratic ticket, even getting Donald Trump’s seal of approval.
“I love watching him. He’s got great entertainment skills, which is very important. People watch him,” Trump said during a NewsNation town hall this spring that included Smith. “I’ve been pretty good at picking people and picking candidates, and I will tell you, I’d love to see him run.”
