The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Best of DLS: The Joan Rivers Hang Up

Date: December 24, 2025

Overview

This "Best Of" episode from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami offers a bizarre, wildly entertaining ride through classic Dan Le Batard Show interviews—most notably, those so awkward that guests hung up mid-conversation. Dan, Stugotz, and crew reflect on botched athlete interviews, play games with Bomani Jones, and relive the infamous Joan Rivers moment that gives this episode its name.

The episode's central theme is the unpredictable chaos that emerges when sports talk radio collides with pop culture and legendary personalities. It highlights the show's willingness to risk—and even relish—moments of social discomfort for the sake of memorable radio.

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Setting the Scene: Embracing Awkwardness ([03:11]-[05:00])

• Dan and Chris Cody preview this "most awkward hour," promising classic interviews (some from 2008) and three notorious celebrity guest hang-ups: Joan Rivers, Michael Phelps, and Nick Lachey.
• The crew riffs about bringing back an "Obama or Hillary" bit for the new year, showing their penchant for mixing sports with cultural and political sharp edges.

2. Cal Ripken Jr.: Opinions, Influence & Role Models

(Interview Highlights [06:04]-[14:19])

• Dan opens by unsuccessfully pushing Ripken to pick Obama or Hillary.

  • "You're not going anywhere near it. You don't want any part of it?" ([06:08])
  • Cal Ripken Jr. demurs, explaining he’s careful with his platform, not wanting to speak out arbitrarily on politics or religion.

• Ripken on Private Opinions:

  • "I like to debate things...maybe I try to win a debate or two by, what was it called, the Socratic method, as opposed to yelling and screaming..." ([07:54])

• Mentoring A-Rod & Consistency:

  • Dan asks about A-Rod idolizing Ripken, which Cal accepts as a compliment while claiming A-Rod is “his own guy.”
  • On consistency, Ripken notes, "Consistent in your effort and consistent with being valuable to the team..." ([12:25])

• Rapid Fire: Heroes, Family, and Fatherhood

  • Multiple quick Qs on greatest rivals and mentors.
  • Ripken’s emotional tribute: "My dad was old school in many ways, and...my mom played the role as my dad in many cases..." ([10:31])

• Funny Finale:

  • Dan tries to probe the "urban legend" of Julio Franco’s "substantive gifts," which Cal adamantly denies knowing about, closing out the interview with a laugh.

3. True or Kakua?: Bomani Jones Game

(Segment Highlights [14:22]-[19:04])

• Bomani and Dan riff on the Manti Te’o scandal, the Barry Bonds charity narrative, and the media’s "race angle."
• Banter and button-pushing fly as they argue over the structure and boundaries of these games.
  • "There is a race angle, Bomani, that will appear on this story soon. Potentially true." – Dan ([16:44])
  • Bomani delivers sharp insights: "When you’re a guy like Tayo, that is the non-white guy at a place like Notre Dame, it’s all fun and games unless they feel like you have embarrassed them..." ([17:15])
• The skit oscillates between genuine social commentary and the show’s signature irreverence.

4. The Joan Rivers Hang Up

(Legendary Interview [23:52]-[26:43])

Context & Build-Up

• Dan unwittingly leads with Doyle Brunson’s (poker legend) infamous quip about Rivers' intelligence, immediately drawing Rivers’ ire.

Joan Rivers Goes Nuclear

• Rivers, indignant:
  • "Oh, go away and leave me alone and get off trying to get famous on my back...When he's 76 years old and he's had a career like I've had, and when he graduated Phi Beta Kappa at 19..." ([24:05])
• She mocks Brunson, trumpets her own credentials, and prepares to swear on air:
  • "So don't start with me with this stupidity." ([25:27])
• Rivers becomes further incensed when Dan brings up her "Hitler" comment from The Apprentice:
  • "Are you Jewish?" —Joan
  • "I am not." —Dan
  • "Shut up then. You don't know what you're talking about." ([26:43])
• She then hangs up.

Aftermath & Self-Reflection ([26:54]-[31:43])

• Dan and Stugotz dissect what went wrong:
  • Dan: "I should have started softer...You came out of the box with, 'This guy thinks you’re a...' Defend yourself. And she rightfully is...Yeah, you played that wrong." ([25:56])
  • Stugotz: "That's...kind of rude of her to hang up. That's a little...I mean, you didn't say anything." ([27:42])
• Dan admits, "I'm an interesting combination of mortified and delighted right now. It's a strange thing to happen." ([29:19])
• The show concludes the only possible way: promoting her show out of respect for her status as a legend.

Memorable Quotes:

• "Go back in and die under a deck of cards." —Joan Rivers ([24:24])
• "If you called someone Hitler...I'm Jewish. I'm a little offended by that." —Dan ([30:38])
• "She beat you down. I am, I am somebody who does not mind at all being embarrassed in public. And in retrospect...that was funny and good." —Dan ([29:41])

5. More Hang Ups: Michael Phelps & Nick Lachey

(Phelps: [35:54]-[38:31]; Lachey: [39:57]-[44:42])

Michael Phelps

• Phelps is polite but laconic, bristling at Dan’s playful probing about endorsement deals and calorie intake.
  • Repeated denials: "I've never said that...Never said that." ([36:12])
• Phelps gives sponsor-appropriate responses before abruptly ending the call.
  • His PR handler interjects: "Sorry, I think we have to head to the next interview..." ([38:26])

Nick Lachey

• Lachey offers standard responses on living in the public eye, then gets irritated when personal questions persist.
  • Dan: "Are we irritating you?"
  • Nick: "No, they're great questions, guys. Really insightful." (tone: sarcastic) ([42:29])
• When they finally pivot back to promoting "The Sing Off," things remain frosty; Lachey hangs up after wrapping his plug.
• The crew mock-laments: "Now we’re beefing with a boy band member? Really?" ([44:44])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Joan Rivers:

  • "When he's 76 years old and he's had a career like I've had, and when he graduated Phi Beta Kappa at 19...then we'll discuss it when he's world famous. Otherwise, I don't give..." ([24:05]-[25:02])
  • "Go back in and die under a deck of cards." ([24:24])
  • "Are you Jewish?...Shut up then. You don't know what you're talking about." ([26:43])

• Dan Le Batard:

  • "I'm an interesting combination of mortified and delighted right now." ([29:19])
  • "She beat you down...Now that it's over, I'm like, wow, that was funny and good." ([29:41])

• Cal Ripken Jr.:

  • "Just because you can catch, hit and throw doesn’t mean that you know everything about everything." ([06:26])
  • "My dad was old school in many ways, and in many ways my mom played the role as my dad..." ([10:31])

• Bomani Jones:

  • "Sometimes we decide that people’s charity matters, sometimes we don’t..." ([14:42])
  • "When you’re a guy like Tayo, that is the non white guy at a place like Notre Dame, it’s all fun and games unless they feel like you have embarrassed them..." ([17:15])

• Michael Phelps:

  • "I've never said that." ([36:12])
  • PR Handler: "Sorry, I think we have to head to the next interview." ([38:26])

• Nick Lachey:

  • (Sarcastic) "No, they're great questions, guys. Really insightful." ([42:29])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:11]: Preview of awkward interviews and planned bits
• [06:04]: Cal Ripken Jr. interview
• [14:22]: Bomani Jones "True or Kakua?"
• [23:52]: Joan Rivers interview begins
• [24:05]: Joan Rivers responds to Brunson beef
• [26:06]: Rivers gets heated about "Trump show" & "Hitler" comment
• [26:43]: Rivers hangs up
• [26:54]-[31:43]: Show analysis and recap of the Joan Rivers moment
• [35:54]: Michael Phelps interview and hang-up
• [39:57]: Nick Lachey interview and hang-up

Episode Tone & Takeaways

Wildly irreverent, occasionally uncomfortable, and always honest about its own missteps, this episode is a showcase for why Dan Le Batard and Stugotz are beloved: their willingness to veer into embarrassing territory and to own it. Whether offering sincere reflections on the power—and dangers—of public platforms (Cal Ripken Jr.) or bumbling into verbal smackdowns with legends (Joan Rivers), the show never hides from fallout.

For listeners, especially those new to the Le Batard universe, this “Best Of” demonstrates the program’s uniquely self-aware collision of sports talk, culture clash, and radical vulnerability—from the uncomfortable to the hilarious.