Paul Finebaum Says ESPN ‘of course’ Sidelined Him After He Floated Senate Run

By Larry Leo•Oct 22, 202611:44 am•

On the Awful Announcing Podcast, Paul Finebaum said ESPN pulled him from its programming after he told OutKick’s Clay Travis in September 2025 that he was considering a run for Tommy Tuberville’s U.S. Senate seat as a Republican, a year after ESPN publicly insisted otherwise...

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“Of course, I was sidelined,” Finebaum said. “I’d done the same shows every day for 13 years, and the next thing you know, I’m not on there after a college football weekend.”

Travis broke the news of that absence on Oct. 6, 2025, citing sources who said the Disney-owned network had canceled all of Finebaum’s “network appearances on all shows, including some that have occurred for a decade plus” in the wake of his interview with Travis expressing his potential political ambitions. On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed Travis’ report, which ESPN vice president of communications Bill Hofheimer vehemently denied in a post on X.

“This is not true at all. The below is TOTALLY FALSE,” Hofheimer wrote while quote-tweeting Travis’ initial report.