ESPN Is Now Paying Michelle Beadle $5 Million Per Year To Do Nothing After She’s Dropped From ‘NBA Countdown’
Michelle Beadle is out of her second ESPN gig in the last year.
As the New York Post reported, the $5-million-per-year television personality has been dropped from NBA Countdown amid a shakeup that will see her replaced by the duo of Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor. As the report noted, the writing had been on the wall for Beadle, with a number of reports during the NBA Playoffs claiming that she was in danger of losing her job on the NBA preview show.
The move to drop Michelle Beadle from NBA Countdown was originally reported by Sports by Brooks back in June, noting that Paul Pierce and Chauncey Billups were also headed out. The report prompted a response from ESPN, which appeared to try to dispel the rumors.
“Our whole NBA team is doing a great job and remains focused on an incredible NBA Finals and tomorrow night’s Game 6,” the network said in its statement. “We have made no decisions about what we are doing next season. After the season, and as we do with every sport, we will sit down and plan our entire NBA content offering across platforms.”
The New York Post had also reported in April that Michelle Beadle’s job could be in danger. It was just one year ago that she left the ESPN morning talk show Get Up! As the New York Post reported at the time, former ESPN President John Skipper had offered Beadle the chance to team up with Mike Greenberg on the flagship morning show but she turned the job down — until Skipper finally offered $5 million per year.
The price was right, but the chemistry was reportedly all wrong. As Andrew Marchand wrote in the New York Post at the time, Michelle Beadle’s pair-up with Mike Greenberg seemed to be doomed from the start.
“[A]nyone who knows anything about Greenberg or Beadle knew it wouldn’t work. They are too different in so many ways,” he wrote. “They did not look like they enjoyed being on set together — and it was even less enjoyable to most viewers.”
Michelle Beadle is off 'NBA Countdown' and out of jobs at ESPN https://t.co/IswwxUeHvf pic.twitter.com/5U5JdHRCyQ
— New York Post (@nypost) August 16, 2019
It’s not clear what will happen next for Michelle Beadle after being dropped from two ESPN shows in the span of about a year, or whether she will remain under the $5 million contract. The network did not respond to requests for comment from the New York Post, and Beadle didn’t immediately return a call from the outlet.
