For the sake of historical accuracy, this article contains coverage of harmful discussions and directly-quoted jokes about queer orientation and gayness.
WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for American Sports Story’s finale.
The finale of FX’sAmerican Sports Storyincludes a scene of Boston-based reporter Michele McPhee’s controversial comments about Aaron Herandnez’s alleged sexuality. From thefirst two episodes ofAmerican Sports Story, thelife and NFL career of Aaron Hernandezwere headed toward a tragic and frightening endpoint that resulted in the former New England Patriot and star tight end receiving a lifetime prison sentence forthe murder of Odin Lloyd. Starting with his emergence as an offensive weapon onUrban Meyer’s legendary yet controversial Florida Gators teamand receiving thecoveted John Mackey Award,American Sports Storyepisode 10 ends with Hernandez behind bars in federal prison.
American Sports Storyepisode 10, “Who Killed Aaron Hernandez?” chronicles Hernandez’s second murder trial and death by suicide in 2017after being represented bycelebrity attorney Jose Baez. By theend of theAmerican Sports Storyfinale, Hernandez takes his own life in his prison celljust days after being acquitted of two additional murder charges for a 2012 double homicide in Boston.American Sports Storyhighlights the various forces working against Hernandez, including hisfather Dennis’s physical abuse and toxic masculinity, alleged sexual abuse as a child, chronic cannabis and substance abuse, closeted and repressed sexuality, andHernandez’s postmortem advanced stage 3 CTE diagnosis.
Michele McPhee Did Discuss Aaron Hernandez’s Sexuality On The Kirk & Callahan Show
She appeared on the show on August 20, 2025
As depicted in theAmerican Sports Story: Aaron Hernandezfinale, Boston-based sports reporter Michele McPhee, along with show hosts Kirk Minihane and Gerry Callahan, made crude and careless jokes about Hernandez’s alleged gayness live on a popular sports radio show. The banner logo hanging on the wall in the series that reads “WEEI 93.7 FM” is accurate and the sports radio station remains widely listened to in the Boston area. “The Kirk & Callahan Show” ran on the air from August 2016 until September 2018. McPhee began herjournalism career withThe Boston Globein 1993 and was also a writer on Showtime’sCity on a Hill.
McPhee appeared on “The Kirk & Callahan Show” on June 30, 2025, two days after Hernandez was acquitted of the double homicide and two days before his death by suicide. McPhee and the radio hosts' dialogue inAmerican Sports Storyis nearly verbatim to what was actually said about Hernandez on the air. McPhee opened the door of discussion on the hot topic issue, saying, “Let’s tease away.” She went on to support the host’s claim that Hernandez was a “tight end on and off the field,” and “he became a wide receiver.” McPhee added that Hernandez kicked “with both feet” (viaThe New Yorker).
Michele McPhee Published The First National News Story About Aaron Hernandez’s Sexuality
McPhee broke the news that authorities interviewed Hernandez’s high school teammate, Dennis SanSoucie
Two days after Hernandez’s death, McPhee wasted no time in publishing the first national news story that revealed Hernandez’s alleged closeted gayness, titled “Aaron Hernandez’s Sex Life Probed as Murder Motive, Police Source Says” (viaNewsweek). In it, she describes the final acts of Hernandez’s life and the circumstances around his death. She reported thatone of three suicide notes left by Hernandez was written to his “prison boyfriend,“an unnamed inmate at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts. The alleged lover, Kyle Kennedy, came forward in 2020 (viaPeople).
Dennis Sansoucie Relationship With Aaron Hernandez & What Happened To Him After American Sports Story
The FX series American Sports Story depicts the alleged relationship between Aaron Hernandez and his high school football teammate Dennis Sansoucie.
McPhee also noted in her groundbreaking article, “Hernandez’s sexuality would, of course, not be relevant save for the fact that an intimate relationship he allegedly had with a male former high school classmate was at the center of the investigation into Lloyd’s murder.” McPhee raises evidence thatHernandez’s gayness was already suspected by authorities, implying that she was not the first person to discuss it. “Hernandez’s alleged longtime male lover, the high school friend, was interviewed extensively by authorities after Lloyd’s murder, and was forced to testify in front of a grand jury.” She was, however, the first person to call attention to it on a popular Boston sports radio show.
Michele McPhee Does Not Believe She Outed Aaron Hernadez’s Sexuality
She wrote a 2020 Newsweek piece defending her stance against the stark backlash
McPhee expressed regret for making those comments about Hernandezbut refuted blame that she played any role in Hernandez’s death by suicide. “What I said was really inelegant of me, and it’s not something I would have done if I wasn’t on a sports radio show. It’s not a laughing matter, in any way, shape, or form” (via The New Yorker).
McPhee addressed the issue once again following the release of Netflix’s 2020 docuseriesKiller Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandezand revealed the misguided and threatening hate mail she had received after Hernandez’s death. She wrote, “Do I regret that Aaron Hernandez killed himself? Of course. I wouldn’t wish death on any human being. That being said: I didn’t kill Aaron Hernandez” (viaNewsweek).American Sports Storyincludes a portrayal of McPhee that avoids framing her entirely but does extend the narrative that Hernandez was deeply affected by her public comments.
American Sports Story
Cast
American Sports Story is a TV show from Stu Zicherman and executive produced by Ryan Murphy. The series stars Josh Andrés Rivera as Aaron Hernandez and Patrick Schwarzenegger as Tim Tebow. The sports anthology series serves as the fourth installment in Murphy’s “American Story” franchise.
