In wake of Barstool blowup, Laurence Holmes’ move creates firestorm at The Score

The Score announced lineup changes Monday that will go into full effect next week after already having an effect at the station’s offices at Two Prudential Plaza.

The Sun-Times has learned that staffers are perceiving Laurence Holmes’ move from middays to afternoons as the result of a blowup with Barstool Sports and his desire to get out of working with station mainstay Dan Bernstein. The situation has created a firestorm at the station, which last week failed to bring back Jason Goff for the afternoon spot vacated by Danny Parkins, who left to host a new morning show on FS1.

Holmes co-hosted his first afternoon show with Matt Spiegel on Monday. Bernstein and fill-in host Mark Grote introduced the new show during transition, and they had a pleasant — although perhaps performative — exchange. Former CBS 2 sports director Marshall Harris will replace Holmes on the midday show beginning next Monday.

The seeds of Holmes’ strife were planted Sept. 10, when an incident on the air Sept. 5 between Bernstein and Barstool Eddie of Barstool Chicago went viral. During transition, Bernstein reacted poorly to Eddie calling him by his last name, saying, “You can call me Dan, or you can call me Bernsy, but you don’t know me like that.” It gained traction in the Stoolies community five days later when Barstool founder Dave Portnoy posted on X, “Stoolies have never had a more important war than to ruin this guy’s life (professionally speaking, of course).”

Although Portnoy’s reaction was much more outrageous than Bernstein’s, his followers heeded his call, directing vitriol at Bernstein on social media. 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. But he also stayed off the air the entire following week, continued to drop podcasts and played on The Score’s softball team. Harris filled in alongside Bernstein in what appears to have been an audition.

Meanwhile, the station and parent company Audacy were negotiating with Goff, with whom Holmes had hoped to host. Pairing them was discussed, but talks with Goff fell apart because of Audacy’s insistence that he give up his podcast, “The Full Go,” with The Ringer. Last Friday, Goff announced on his podcast he wasn’t returning to the station that unceremoniously let him go in March 2018. On Monday, Audacy and The Score announced the new lineup, and Holmes returned to the air for the first time in nearly two weeks.

Station employees don’t see the series of events as a series of coincidences. 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.

The new lineup is a convenient one for The Score, which was able to maintain some continuity by promoting from within and hiring a fill-in. Holmes has been with the station since 1998 and worked with Bernstein since 2022. Harris, who left CBS 2 in July, has appeared on various shows at The Score.

The changes come near the beginning of the Nielsen fall ratings period, which runs Sept. 12 to Dec. 4. The station will have a little over two months of data during a key timeframe — football season — to see how it initially fares.