Michelle Beadle rips Stephen A. Smith amid SiriusXM shakeup: 'I don't respect him'

Stephen A. Smith will join ‘Mad Dog Radio’ on Sirius XM this September in the 1-3 p.m. ET time slot. The news of the move ruffled a few feathers behind the scenes.

Michelle Beadle and Cody Decker, who have been on air during that time slot for the past two seasons, weren’t exactly thrilled to hear of the news. Beadle herself has since responded directly to the ESPN mainstay, ripping Smith in numerous ways.

“I don’t respect him,” Beadle told Front Office Sports. “I don’t respect his work. He doesn’t like me. This goes back to the Ray Rice stuff. He made some really piggish comments on the air. I responded; he got suspended for like two weeks. I think that was sort of the beginning of the end for anything.

“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.”

Beadle is referring to Smith’s controversial comments toward domestic violence in 2014 following the violent incident involving Rice and his now wife, which ended his playing career. Smith was briefly suspended for his comments and later apologized.

The move brings Smith back to Channel 82 on SiriusXM headlined by Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who has been Smith’s Wednesday sparring partner on First Take in the last couple of years. Smith was originally on the channel from 2013-17 in between stints at ESPN Radio. 

Beadle admitted in the interview that she wasn’t expecting to see the report. She revealed that she found out the news while reading the original report from The Hollywood Reporter before ever being contacted by her bosses.

“The Hollywood Reporter comes out—and there’s his face. I was like, I should have known,” Beadle continued. “That was just kind of gross. I don’t care that we’re being replaced or what have you. It happens all the time. But a little respect would have been nice. Good Lord. I was totally blindsided. Just really embarrassed, to be honest.”

Beadle and Decker were both given just a “few hours notice” of the change after the report came out. The initial story had the all of the details before her and he co-host were made aware of them.

“It’s a reminder: We’re just all pieces of sh*t to someone,” Beadle said. “If you forgot, there it is.”