ESPN appears to have taken some form of disciplinary action against Paul Finebaum in the wake of the longtime college football analyst’s interview with Clay Travis.
Finebaum conducted an interview with Travis that was published last Monday. During his conversation with the OutKick founder, Finebaum revealed that he has been thinking about leaving ESPN to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama. The 70-year-old said the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk is what inspired him to think about running for political office.
Finebaum has been noticeably absent from certain ESPN programs since the interview was released. According to Travis, that is not a coincidence. Travis and OutKick’s Bobby Burack reported on Monday that ESPN has removed Finebaum from “SportsCenter,” “Get Up” and “First Take,” which are shows that Finebaum has made regular appearances on for the last decade.
A high-ranking ESPN source just confirmed @ClayTravis' report to me that the network removed @finebaum from his scheduled appearances on SportsCenter, Get Up, and First Take since his interview w/@OutKick.
— Bobby Burack (@burackbobby_) October 6, 2025
The source said ESPN could put Finebaum back on-air this week to spite…
Finebaum has continued to host “The Paul Finebaum Show” on SEC Network and was in his usual spot on “SEC Nation” Saturday morning. Though multiple outlets have confirmed that ESPN pulled Finebaum from his other TV spots because of the OutKick interview, ESPN has issued a denial.
Bill Hofheimer, the vice president of ESPN, responded to Travis’ social media post and called it “not true at all.”
This is not true at all. The below is TOTALLY FALSE. https://t.co/nmnBA9mj13
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) October 6, 2025
During the interview with Travis, Finebaum said he is a registered Republican and would run as a Republican if he were to launch a senate bid. Finebaum also revealed that he voted for Donald Trump. He noted that ESPN “tells us not to discuss that.”
Travis and others have criticized ESPN for what they perceive as hypocrisy with the way Finebaum is being treated. Stephen A. Smith has increasingly shared his political views in recent years, and his massive new contract with ESPN is designed in a way that gives him more freedom to do so.
Finebaum was a columnist in Birmingham before his “Paul Finebaum Show” became popular on Alabama radio. The show moved to the SEC Network in 2014.
