Brandon Walker Is Taking a Break From Barstool Sports — Hosts Ask for Privacy

Controversy never seems to be far behind the staff at Barstool Sports. The popular sports blogging site has been active since September 2003. The site is known for covering the world of sports and pop culture. Regarded as the "Bible of Bro Culture," the platform has become something of a haven for sports culture among its typical demographic of young men between the ages of 18–35. Of course, all that masculinity in one place is bound to cause some issues, and Barstool has seen plenty of them.

The site has previously come under fire for numerous insensitive comments made under their banner. They've also been previously accused of stealing content from independent creators without attributing their sources. Several of the creators on Barstool's Mean Girl podcast have also faced backlash over videos and comments made amid a series of layoffs in September 2023.

Then there's Brandon Walker, a longtime Barstool Sports contributor whose absences have raised concerns. What happened to him?

As the top College Football media personality in the country (according to his Twitter bio), Brandon has covered the sports beat for quite some time. As part of Barstool Sports, he has contributed to series like Barstool Yak, his own eponymous "Brandon Walker College Football Show," and the Mostly Sports podcast. Because of his numerous appearances on Barstool series, however, Brandon's multiple absences have been noted in the past. In fact, they seem to have come to a head in 2024.

On the June 10, 2024, episode of Mostly Sports, Brandon's co-host Mark Titus directly confirmed that Brandon will be taking an indefinite hiatus from the show. Up until this point, Brandon hadn't appeared in several episodes, but his colleagues joked about his absence. However, Mark has stated that no one is laughing anymore.

"We've been joking about Brandon missing shows here and there," Mark stated. "I hope people don't joke this time. It's not my place to spill his business."

To that end, many have been curious about why Brandon has been away from Barstool lately. On the r/barstoolsports subreddit, fans have noticed that his absences have become more frequent. Reportedly, he has been dealing with several deaths of loved ones over the past year.

"I don't know what happened, but it seems like he's out every other month with a death of someone close or something family-related," one Redditor mused.

Brandon's current string of absences hasn't been explained by him or his colleagues, with the latter urging folks to respect his privacy over the matter. As of this writing, Brandon also hasn't posted anything on his social platforms since June 8.

However, it's difficult to say whether his colleagues are at all missing him. In a June 2023 episode of Barstool Yak, several employees admitted to having awkward to downright "hateful" working relationships with him.

Either way, fans are hoping that his current situation isn't too serious.