Kirk Minihane posted on Saturday night that he’s stepping away from his Barstool Sports podcast with no timeline for a return, describing the past few months as among the lowest points he can remember.
“I’m taking some time off from the show – it’s been a really tough last few months and I need to step away,” Minihane wrote on X. “About as low as I can remember, but I’ll be OK. No idea when I’ll be back. As always, it’s OK to ask for help when you need it, and you’re not alone.”
I’m taking some time off from the show – it’s been a really tough last few months and I need to step away. About as low as I can remember, but I’ll be OK. No idea when I’ll be back. As always, it’s OK to ask for help when you need it, and you’re not alone.
— Kirk Minihane (@kirkmin) November 16, 2025
This marks at least the fourth time Minihane has stepped away from a show for mental health reasons since 2018. He didn’t specify whether he’s entering treatment or what prompted this particular break, only that he needs time away.
In a follow-up post, Minihane acknowledged the inevitable reaction.
“There will be people gloating over this, and that’s plenty fair,” he wrote. “I make fun of everyone, can’t expect to be treated any different. The tweet below isn’t for sympathy, just an update. That’s all.”
Last thing and I’m gone for a while: There will be people gloating over this, and that’s plenty fair. I make fun of everyone, can’t expect to be treated any different. The tweet below isn’t for sympathy, just an update. That’s all. https://t.co/ZsHmbxQilM
— Kirk Minihane (@kirkmin) November 16, 2025
Minihane has built a career on being confrontational, on going after people harder than anyone else, and on never backing down. The acknowledgment that critics will celebrate his struggles isn’t surprising, given the enemies he’s made over 15 years in Boston sports media.
The Kirk Minihane Show has been running on Barstool since May 2019, when Dave Portnoy brought him over after he left WEEI under contentious circumstances. Minihane joined WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan morning show in February 2013 as a third host and helped drive the show to the top of Boston’s morning ratings. He was known for his confrontational style, his willingness to attack anyone, and his ability to generate both ratings and controversy in equal measure.
As mentioned above, this isn’t Minihane’s first time stepping away for mental health-related reasons. In August 2018, while still at WEEI, he checked himself into Winchester Hospital after experiencing suicidal thoughts. He was transferred to McLean Hospital, where he spent four days before returning to work.
He came back too soon. Within weeks, Minihane announced another indefinite leave.
That second absence didn’t end with a triumphant return. When Minihane said he was ready to come back, WEEI kept him off the air. Minihane refused to sign a document that he said would have restricted him from criticizing the Globe or the Red Sox and would have required him not to be “mean-spirited” on air.
WEEI and Entercom offered him a show on their Radio.com app instead. Minihane took it, launched it in January 2019, then left the company entirely in May after the show failed to gain traction. He joined Barstool a few days later.
Unfortunately for Minihane, the cycle of having to take mental health-related leaves has since repeated at Barstool.
In March 2020, Minihane announced he was entering treatment after struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts for the previous month. Then, in July 2020, he announced another hiatus, this one described as worse than any previous episode. In November 2021, Minihane took another leave to deal with what he described as “depression, suicidal thoughts, paranoia, and anxiety.”
At Barstool, Minihane has had more freedom to be exactly who he is. The show recently hit its 1,000th episode. Minihane signed an extension with Barstool in 2023 after initially planning to leave when he turned 50 in June 2024. He’s also worked on true crime content, with his podcast The Case helping solve two murders.
The question with someone like Minihane is always where the act ends and the person begins. He’s built a following by being willing to attack anyone, by turning his own struggles into content, and by being as abrasive as possible while also being candid about depression and suicidal thoughts. Those things don’t exist in separate compartments. They’re part of the same person doing the same job.
And that person is now taking an indefinite leave.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.