WEEI host Ted Johnson blasted Barstool Sports and podcasters on the station Wednesday afternoon. What drew the ire was reportedly an article from January of 2025 written by former WEEI host and current Barstool blogger Jerry Thornton.
What We Know: Thornton wrote an article about Johnson in January 2025 following an opinion he shared on WEEI regarding Bill Belichick. Nearly two years later, Johnson recalled the article and said that Thornton never called him for comment beforehand or afterward. Which led to Johnson sharing his perspective on the journalism approach of the digital media giant. On WEEI Wednesday, Johnson widened the attack to Barstool broadly, calling its coverage biased toward teams and players. He then posted on X, offering to buy Thornton lunch to “clear the air.”
What They Said: (All quotes from WEEI)
WEEI host Ted Johnson on Barstool Sports always siding with teams, players: “People that work for Barstool, they can’t do real journalism. You know what? They defend the teams and they crap on everybody that’s critical. The real journalists that actually have objective opinions. They side with the team, and anybody that says anything negative about the team, then you’re the enemy.”
WEEI host Ted Johnson on Barstool Sports writer (and former WEEI host) Jerry Thornton: “All you former WEEI employees that are on Twitter or Instagram, because that’s where you can get your opinions out there that you think are so important. Your thoughts and opinions on sports in Boston, it’s so important to everybody that we get those. You go out there on Twitter, Instagram, or one of your podcasts in that sea of podcasts out there. You’re doing that because you can’t do this job that I’m doing right now.”
WEEI host Ted Johnson says podcasters can’t do his job: “All you podcasters, they can’t do this job. You want this job so bad that I’m doing right now. I got this mic in front of me, not you. All right. You think I might get my comeuppance one day. You know what? I might. Here’s the here’s the difference between you and me, though. I don’t need this job like you do.”
What Remains Unclear: The specifics of Thornton’s article which caused this outburst by Johnson is unknown. Whether Thornton accepts the lunch invite is unclear. So is whether he’ll respond publicly at all.
What It Means: Johnson’s critique reflects a running tension between traditional Boston sports radio and Barstool-style digital media. By calling out Thornton directly, Johnson defended his WEEI seat as legitimate journalism. Barstool’s model continues to draw fire from the establishment it once fed off. Whether or not this turns into something larger is yet to be determined.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.