ESPN accused of pulling Paul Finebaum from the air after expressing political interest

Are Paul Finebaum’s political aspirations hurting his day job?

Finebaum, an ESPN talent since August 2013, has been pulled from some of his regular appearances on the network, Outkick’s Clay Travis claimed Monday on social media.

“Per sources: Disney/ESPN has removed @finebaum from appearing on @ESPN since his @outkick interview expressing interest in running as a Republican for senate in Alabama,” Travis said in an X post.

“ESPN has canceled all network appearances on all shows, including some that have occurred for a decade plus.”

Finebaum expressed interest in running for the U.S. Senate seat as a Republican in Alabama, although he has not officially announced his candidacy.

On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed this report from Travis, although it was vehemently denied by ESPN’s Vice President of Communications, Bill Hofheimer, in an X post.

“This is not true at all. The [post] is TOTALLY FALSE,” Hofheimer replied to Travis.

Travis shot down Hofheimer’s rebuttal.

“LOL. This decision is above your pay grade, Bill. Why wasn’t [Paul Finebaum] on Sunday AM SportsCenter yesterday? Or First Take this morning? For the first time in over a decade? Reacting to one of the biggest college football weekends of the year? I stand by my sources.”

When reached for comment by The Post’s Jenna Lemoncelli, ESPN again denied this report.

Finebaum did appear on SEC Network this weekend on “SEC Nation,” and his “Paul Finebaum Show” ran as usual last week after the interview made headlines.

Travis claims, though, that Finebaum has not appeared on “SportsCenter,” “First Take” or “Get Up” since last Wednesday.

Finebaum had previously been scheduled to appear on “First Take” this Tuesday and “SportsCenter” on Saturday, and that has not changed, a source told The Post.

ESPN is experimenting with other college football analysts in new spots, in case Finebaum does leave the network for a Senate run.

Finebaum had previously said the assassination of Charlie Kirk fueled his desire to enter the political realm and that a few people in Washington asked to gauge his interest in running.

Disney has been deeply entangled in political discourse for the better part of a month.

They initially pulled Jimmy Kimmel from the airwaves after comments he made about Kirk’s alleged murderer upset affiliate broadcast partners Nexstar and Sinclair.

Kimmel was later reinstated as the late-night talk show host a few days later.

The company’s most prominent sports personality, Stephen A. Smith, has also flirted with a democratic bid for president in 2028.