CBS Sports producer speaks out on Jamie Carragher's 'loyalty' jibe at Kate Abdo & admits Liverpool legend caused a 'headache for everyone' with boozy antics in Dortmund

Former Liverpool defender Carragher made his on-air quip during coverage of a Champions League clash between Arsenal and Porto in March 2024. The ex-England international appeared to question the loyalty of host Abdo to her now husband Malik Scott, leaving fellow pundits Thierry Henry and Micah Richards stunned into silence.

Said comment quickly went viral, with Radovich telling The Athletic how CBS Sports – and Abdo in particular – reacted to an unfortunate saga: “The first thing to say is everyone was surprised at the reaction that night; myself, Kate and Jamie included, because it was just banter gone wrong amongst friends, between a brother and sister. That night, when it started to snowball, we had discussions. It wasn’t alarms or questioning if we were going to be able to repair this. He misspoke. He felt bad. Kate wasn’t crazy about it, but none of it was like, ‘This could be the end’.

“The biggest reaction was surprise at how much play it got. So, there was never a moment in all of that time where I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t know if we can bounce back from this’. Not even for a split second because I knew internally we were all cool. It’s not for me to speak for Kate, but I can only speak to the conversations I had with Kate. She conveyed to me that she wasn’t crazy about the comment, but at the same time, we can get over this.”

Carragher was to cause more headaches for the CBS team when attending Borussia Dortmund’s semi-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain, as he partook in a few pre-match beverages and ended up forming part of the famous ‘Yellow Wall’ before returning to screen looking a little worse for wear when interviewing England winger Jadon Sancho.

Radovich added on “pushing the limits” of acceptable behaviour: “To UEFA’s credit, they see what’s happening in America. They understand what the audience wants. We’re probably a thorn in their side at times, but they also see the results and think, 'OK, that was painful at the time, but maybe there’s something here'.

“So Jamie and Dortmund. That was an interesting day, but the result is that it’s now looked back on very fondly. At the time it was a little bit of a headache for everyone, but now when we look back, it’s like, ‘Was that so bad?'”

The Champions League is back for 2024-25, as the revised group stage format of that competition gets underway on Tuesday, with CBS Sports bringing elite European action to U.S. audiences once again – while also taking on EFL coverage as they buy into the growing interest Stateside that the likes of Wrexham and Birmingham have helped to generate.