Michelle Beadle downplays feud with Erin Andrews, says industry wants a catfight

Friday was Michelle Beadle‘s last day at ESPN before she moves over to a new job with NBC Sports and Access Hollywood. The day marked not only the end of her time on “SportsNation,” but potentially the end of a longstanding feud with co-worker Erin Andrews.

The rivalry between the ESPN personalities apparently was brought public by the ESPN Book (I never read it) in which Beadle, answering questions in an interview, admitted she watched the Erin Andrews peephole video.

She was pressed about that and more during an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on Friday after Dan slyly introduced the subject by asking if Andrews attended Beadle’s going away party (she did).

“All I did was answer questions that I was asked,” Beadle said of her comments to the ESPN Book. “If being honest was the problem, then I’m sorry for that. All I did was say I saw the video. Apparently you’re not supposed to say that.”

Beadle says she was called in to talk to her ESPN bosses about the interview, but she’s never discussed it with Andrews.

“But then you’ve also had little digs at her,” Patrick pressed.

“And I really haven’t,” Beadle disagreed.

“Here’s what I think: I think you have two women in the same stupid industry, and for whatever reason, I think the idea of there being a catfight is special.

“There are things that I think about on a daily basis, and things that I don’t. And I don’t know why, for some reason the assumption is that’s a part of my everyday process — it’s really not,” she said.

This may not be an issue in Beadle’s consciousness, but she should remember that she’s the one who publicly started the rivalry by telling Deadspin “Everyone who knows me knows [that I’m not a fan of Erin Andrews].”

On top of that, she took what could be considered veiled shots at Andrews recently.

I appreciate her desire to downplay matters especially now that she’s leaving, but the fact is she’s the source of the public’s knowledge of the feud, so she can’t ascribe blame to them for wanting more.

Maybe in the end Bristol wasn’t big enough for the two of them, and hopefully Beadle is moving on to bigger and better things. She certainly will be missed by the legions of fans who enjoyed her personality on “SportsNation.”

Below is her entire interview with Dan Patrick (the Erin Andrews stuff begins around the 6:30 mark):

Photo credits: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE, Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE