Pablo Torre-Bill Simmons beef, explained: How Bill Belichick-Jordan Hudson report led to online spat

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Daniel Mader
Pablo Torre-Bill Simmons beef, explained: How Bill Belichick-Jordan Hudson report led to online spat image

Pablo Torre's investigation into Bill Belichick's relationship with his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, has put him in the spotlight.

In May, Torre took to his podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out," to share what details he had found about the UNC head coach's romantic relationship. He reported that Hudson had been banned from team facilities, which the Tar Heels later declined, while also providing some previously unknown details about Hudson and her relationship with Belichick.

However, one other prominent sports media personality, Bill Simmons, wasn't a fan of Torre's reporting. The two have now gone back-and-forth on social media about Simmons' critiques.

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Here's why Simmons and Torre have had a public disagreement over how Torre reported on the Belichick-Hudson relationship.

MORE: Full relationship timeline for Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson

Pablo Torre-Bill Simmons beef, explained

On May 9, Torre released a podcast where he revealed details about Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson's relationship, based on the information he had gotten from various sources. He detailed how Hudson had allegedly been banned from UNC grounds, why there was concern that she is harming Belichick's legacy, and dove a bit deeper into her background.

Since then, Torre has participated in various media interviews, including stories for Vanity Fair and The Athletic. Because he covered one of the most fascinating stories of the football offseason, Belichick and Hudson, Torre became a central figure himself.

Torre also released a second episode targeted on Belichick and Hudson, looking into the famous Ring camera footage of the legendary head coach in 2023 and confirming that he was with Hudson. Soon after, Hudson called Torre's reporting "factually incorrect" and "defamatory."

Simmons, however, had a lot of criticism for how Torre handled the reporting. On a May 27 episode of the podcast "The Rewatchables," where the topic was focused on the 1978 movie "Heaven Can Wait," Simmons took an opportunity to call out Torre.

While co-hosts Chris Ryan and Van Lathan were talking about a character in the movie, Leo Farnsworth, Simmons took a dig at Torre being the center of attention for his Belichick-Hudson story.

“Pablo Torre would’ve done a long podcast about Leo Farnsworth trying to practice with the team, and then done a media tour about it afterwards,” Simmons said. “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— was that? Seriously."

Simmons then imitated Torre, saying, "Belichick’s dating a girl. 'Oh, let me do nine shows about it.'" When Lathan noted how "everybody was talking about it," Simmons, a known Patriots fan, said, "that’s fine. Maybe do two shows about it. ... You don’t need to do a media tour about a f—g podcast."

On Monday, Torre responded to Simmons on social media.

"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 ["Pablo Torre Finds Out"] and someone just 'pretending to be a journalist,' of course," Torre wrote, appearing to invite Simmons onto his podcast.

On June 3, Dan Le Batard announced on his show that Torre would soon appear on Simmons' podcast, "The Bill Simmons Podcast" after the two media stars had a public feud. While Torre initially invited Simmons onto his own podcast, the two will instead talk over Simmons' podcast.