Despite the fact that there's been no public disciplinary fallout from Michelle Beadle's nasty comments about Erin Andrews last month, it appears Beadle's trying to distance herself from "Those Guys Have All The Fun," according to co-author Tom Shales. Shales, whose longtime gig as a TV critic resulted in a chummy relationship with Regis, was shocked there was no mention of the book during Beadle's guest-host spot on Regis and Kelly, yesterday. He emailed us his colorful conspiracy theory about "The Big Snub."
I gotta say, Ms Beadle behaved badly, or at least weirdly. She sits there chatting on and on with Regis about precisely the kind of stuff that's in the book while acting as if the book doesn't exist, or else that she's incredibly oblivious to such current events as bestseller lists. But why? Maybe the rumors are true: that she feared her old feud with Erin Andrews would come up again if the book was mentioned. It can't be that she's worried about her bosses at ESPN; after all, she's the fair-haired blonde. Tony Kornheiser makes cracks about Hannah Storm's crazy kilt and gets a two-week suspension, while Beadle bashes Andrews and escapes without so much as a "tsk-tsk."
Nor can I believe that The Big Snub has anything to do with Regis being pissed at me or Jim or the publisher or anybody. He and I have been on good terms since back in the 20th Century. We both treasured Jack Paar as star and friend, and I think I may have had something to do with Regis getting to know Dave Letterman. A copy of "Those Guys" was hand-delivered to Regis at his office, and while none of us expected him to hold it up and wave it around (the book, the book), nobody thought the devoted sports fan would completely ignore it, either.That came like a punch in the gut, or lower.
He was very kind to Jim's and my last book, "Live from New York," raving about it on the air and showing up at the big Sony book party with wife Joy. I still cannot believe that Disney will let Regis make good on his threat to leave later this summer. Insane.
It's this kind of crap that makes me want to break into a chorus of "There's No Business Like Show Business, and Let's Keep It That Way." BTW: Still love Regis, still love Michelle....
Beadle told us through text message that The Big Snub theory is preposterous and that no one on the Regis and Kelly staff ever suggested the ESPN book was something Regis wanted to ask her about. So the oversight was completely unintentional.
"Never crossed my mind," she said "I answered a porn question. You know it would have been fine."
That's a fair point. Beadle also leaves for a scheduled two-week vacation soon, but made sure to say that it was "scheduled" and was not because of her Andrews snipes.