The beef between ESPN’s Linda Cohn and Keith Olbermann, her former “SportsCenter” counterpart, escalated Friday.
Cohn went scorched earth on Olbermann in response to his comments calling her “self-obsessed politically motivated clown,” saying that he ultimately needs to seek help.
“Amazing @KeithOlbermann that you describe me how the world actually describes you,” Cohn posted to X on Friday. “What happened to you? Gaslighting and bullying a former colleague? Is that really your thing now? It’s really sad and disappointing.
“Everyone knows you’ve been irrelevant since you left sports and decided to share your uninvited warped world views with the rest of us. You sound bitter and miserable. I hope you get the help you need.”
Olbermann replied with a simple “lol.”
The pair’s jabs toward each other come after Cohn posted about her disagreement with a Toronto Star opinion piece that argued Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews chose President Donald Trump over Canada by going to the White House to celebrate the U.S. men’s hockey team’s 2-1 overtime gold-medal win at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The article, headlined “Auston Matthews made his choice, seemingly putting Trump ahead of the Leafs,” said that the center “failed in every respect as captain of the Leafs.”
Though Matthews did visit the White House with the majority of his teammates on Tuesday, he did not attend Trump’s State of the Union address that evening.
“Are you kidding me? If this is how Leafs fans feel, If I’m Auston Matthews, I’d take control of my life and go where I’m wanted,” Cohn wrote of the piece.
“Be better,” she added. “I hope you don’t speak for Leafs fans.”
Olbermann then shared his two cents on the matter, attacking Cohn’s original comments.
“Hate to finally break it to you [Linda Cohn]. I’d say ‘be better to you’ but it’s an impossibility,” Olbermann wrote, which included a screenshot of Cohn’s post.
“You’re a self-obsessed politically motivated clown who thinks HER leanings are sacrosanct and everyone else’s must be suppressed. We’ve indulged you all these years. That now ends.”
The two were faces of ESPN in the 1990s.
Olbermann, who had multiple stints with the network, left again in 2020.
Cohen has been with the network since 1992.
