The Score announced Friday that longtime host Dan Bernstein is out after a social-media flare-up last week.
Station vice president Mitch Rosen went on the air at about 1:50 p.m. to share the news in a brief statement. In an email to staff obtained by the Sun-Times, Rosen said, “On behalf of [Audacy market manager] Kevin Cassidy and myself, we want to let all of you know that Dan Bernstein no longer works at the Score. We thank Dan for his time here and wish him nothing but the best. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. Thank you.”
That won’t stop The Score from talking about Bernstein. Matt Spiegel said at the top of his show after the announcement, “The Score said goodbye to one of its most famous, influential and impactful hosts. Dan Benstein is gone, and we won’t shy away from discussing him. We’ve been advised not to talk about the events of the last week, but we won’t shy away from talking about Bernsy and us and The Score and our relationship at time along the way.”
Bernstein’s ouster follows an ugly exchange March 14 on X that kept him off the air all week and led to his removal from the board of directors of charity Camp One Step. The previous day, Bernstein posted on X a picture of him holding a northern pike he caught with the message, “This was a helluva fight.” Later, an X user accused Bernstein of killing the fish, to which Bernstein responded that it was “released successfully.”
After the user called Bernstein a liar, Bernstein responded, “I never respond to trolls, but questioning my sportsmanship and conservation awareness sets me off. Wanna fight? I’m a bad enemy, [expletive].” The back-and-forth continued, and Bernstein threatened to dox the user before posting, “Want your kids involved?” The posts have been deleted, but screenshots are available.
On Sunday, Camp One Step by Children’s Oncology Services posted on X, “Camp One Step brings happiness, support, strength and hope to hundreds of children each year. Recently, Dan Bernstein made comments on social media that don’t reflect our mission. As a result, we’ve removed him from our board of directors.”
The incident was the latest in a yearslong series in which Bernstein put himself in hot water. Last year, Bernstein came under fire for his poor reaction to being called by his last name on the air by Eddie of Barstool Chicago. Bernstein was targeted online for his reaction, which was caught on video, but he never went off the air.
Bernstein also drew ire for a lewd remark on Twitter about a former Comcast SportsNet Chicago reporter’s appearance. He also angered listeners for mockingly referring to late Cubs Hall of Famer Ron Santo’s amputated legs as stumps.