Copyright Essentially Sports
Modern athletes don’t just endorse products anymore—they’re in the boardrooms, the investor chats, the private equity deals. And when questions arise about those private conversations, like the recent Sable Offshore controversy surrounding Phil Mickelson, social media becomes the platform where they shape the narrative. Mickelson just demonstrated exactly how that works. On November 9, he dismissed journalist Pablo Torre with a brutal one-two punch: “I’ve never heard of you and have no idea who you are.” Then came the knockout. “But given what I know to be true and what you report, you’re tabloid, and I’ll wait for the right opportunity.” The dismissal came after Torre invited Mickelson onto his podcast to discuss explosive allegations. Torre’s November 6 episode featured investigative journalist Sam Koppelman from Hunterbrook Media. They detailed leaked investor chats where Mickelson allegedly shared insider tips about Sable Offshore. The chats also included a crude joke about Donald Trump confronting Gavin Newsom to hype the company’s stock. ADVERTISEMENT Torre isn’t some random blogger. He’s an award-winning sports journalist who won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Sports Reporting in both 2022 and 2024. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and previously worked for ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated. But credentials don’t matter when you’re Phil Mickelson, facing uncomfortable questions. His “never heard of you” strategy has one goal: to delegitimize the messenger so people ignore the message. ADVERTISEMENT Here’s what makes this particularly calculated. Mickelson actually engaged with Torre on November 1. He explained his careful approach to insider information in a detailed X post. “So a company says I can’t say anything to you, but we will announce something at the close,” Mickelson wrote. “I don’t know if it’s a dilution and the stock goes down or a deal for the stock to go up. I have to wait to see what the info is, I make no trades whatsoever and am ultra ultra careful.” “So a company says I can’t say anything to you but we will announce something at the close. I don’t know if it’s a dilution and the stock goes down or a deal for the stock to go up. I have to wait to see what the info is, I make no trades whatsoever and am ultra ultra careful.” ADVERTISEMENT Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports Then Torre invited him for a full interview. Eight days passed. Mickelson’s response? Pretend Torre doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, the allegations persist. Hunterbrook’s October 31 investigation revealed Sable CEO Jim Flores allegedly shared selective information with investors, including Mickelson. The report detailed discussions of a $200 million equity raise that was that had never been publicly disclosed. Between his two responses to Torre, Mickelson retained defamation lawyer Tom Clare on November 7. Clare secured a record $787.5 million settlement for Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News in 2023. That’s serious firepower for someone claiming innocence. ADVERTISEMENT Phil Mickelson’s controversy playbook: A familiar pattern This isn’t Mickelson’s first rodeo with controversy. He’s got a playbook, and it rarely changes. In 2016, the SEC designated him a “relief defendant” in an insider trading case. His friend Billy Walters served five years in prison after Mickelson profited $931,000 from a Dean Foods stock tip. Mickelson paid back $1,037,029.81 but faced no criminal charges. ADVERTISEMENT Then came his 2022 LIV Golf disaster. Mickelson called the Saudis “scary motherfuckers” who “execute people for being gay.” He claimed the comments were off-record. They weren’t. He apologized, disappeared for months, then joined LIV anyway. “They’re scary motherf__rs to get involved with. We know they killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay.” The pattern repeats itself every time. Controversy strikes. Mickelson deflects, disappears, or dismisses. He controls the narrative by refusing to participate in anyone else’s. Torre’s “right opportunity” will probably never come. And that might be precisely what Mickelson’s counting on.
