Bill Simmons is not one to shy away from opinions about other members of the sports media. The founder and CEO of The Ringer took to his Rewatchables podcast this past weekend, where Simmons, alongside co-hosts Chris Ryan and Van Lathan, shared their thoughts on Heaven Can Wait. As the trio was in the midst of their breakdown, Simmons cracked a joke about how Pablo Torre would have investigated a key member of the cast returning from injury.
Soon after, this jab by Simmons was followed with a critique of Torre’s recent work surrounding the Bill Belichick storyline with Jordon Hudson. In particular, Torre has led the coverage of their relationship and her influence surrounding the University of North Carolina program. “I’ve never seen anybody dine on a stupider story for a week and a half while pretending you’re a journalist. What the f**k was that,” said Simmons.
In response, Pablo Torre replied via X on Monday to Simmons’ comments.
“Dear Bill Simmons,” tweeted Torre on Monday. “Since you have such a strong public opinion about my work, I happen to have a few questions for you, specifically. Unless you’re afraid of @PabloFindsOut and someone just ‘pretending to be a journalist,’ of course. Thanks, Pablo.”
Naturally, Simmons, a die-hard Patriots fan from the Boston area, continued with his criticism of how Torre has investigated news of the Belichick story in recent weeks.
“Belichick’s dating a girl. ‘Oh, let me do nine shows about it. Settle the f**k down,” said Simmons. “You don’t need to do a media tour about a f***ing podcast.”
Meanwhile, over the past few weeks, Torre reported that he visited the Airbnb used by Jordon Hudson two years prior, when Bill Belichick was caught on camera leaving the home shirtless the following morning. A Ring camera video showed the former New England Patriots head coach leaving the property, which ended up circulating online and going viral. Furthermore, the owners of the property were skeptical about the situation and sent the video to a friend, and it eventually made its way around the internet.
However, Hudson later posted on Instagram and accused Torre of delivering “factually incorrect” and “defamatory” reporting.
Additionally, last month, Torre spoke about his reporting and divulged that he planned to hold the University of North Carolina accountable if it failed to comply with public records requests related to the football program. Torre explained that if the university did not accede to such by Friday, he would do what is necessary to fulfill its obligations under related laws.
As of now, Simmons has not publicly responded to Torre’s offer for a line of questioning.
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