On Monday, Chicago’s 670 The Score announced lineup changes, with the headline being that Laurence Holmes will join Matt Spiegel in afternoon drive, filling the space left by Danny Parkins.
That decision reportedly didn’t come without a bit of drama behind the scenes.
Chicago Sun-Times editor/columnist Jeff Agrest wrote Monday that Holmes’s move from midday to afternoons comes as a culmination of events involving Barstool Sports and a desire on his part to move away from former co-host Dan Bernstein.
Back on Sept. 10, radio veteran Bernstein invoked the wrath of Stoolies everywhere when he chastised “Barstool Eddie” for not correctly referring to him while filling in on the afternoon program alongside Spiegel. After Eddie called Bernstein by his last name, the radio host snapped “You can call me Dan or you can call me Bernsy, but you don’t know me like that.”
Probably the most harmless exchange of all time turns into a last name war. Insane. https://t.co/g5RJvLnAN0 pic.twitter.com/qxDG0iJ1hx
— Chuck Naso (@ChuckNaso) September 10, 2024
Barstool owner Dave Portnoy wasn’t pleased with the incident and encouraged the site’s fans to “ruin this guys life” in retaliation, which they certainly tried to do.
According to Agrest, Holmes wasn’t too happy with the incident (nor were other The Score hosts, it seems).
“Holmes, who was bothered by the episode, didn’t appear on the show for the rest of the week. On his ‘House of L’ podcast Sept. 16, Holmes explained he had been away because of oral surgery,” he wrote. “But he also stayed off the air the entire following week, continued to drop podcasts, and played on The Score’s softball team. [Marshall] Harris filled in alongside Bernstein in what appears to have been an audition.”
During this time, Audacy was negotiating with Jason Goff to return to the station and partner with Spiegel as he used to. However, those negotiations broke down and Goff announced Friday that wouldn’t be happening.
On Monday, Holmes was announced as Spiegel’s new partner while Bernstein’s new co-host would be Harris.
“Station employees don’t see the series of events as a series of coincidences,” wrote Agrest. “While Holmes maneuvered in the background, Bernstein, who has been at the station since 1995, continued to appear on the air and in public at remote broadcasts, despite continued attacks on social media.”
Is Laurence Holmes sowing bad blood behind the scenes at The Score, did a bunch of station employees loyal to Dan Bernstein want to send a message, or is this a little bit of both? Perhaps we’ll see this drama play out on the airwaves in the coming days as both shows reboot.
