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Where is Michele Tafoya? Bill Simmons has a strange theory on her absence from SNF

Is Michele Tafoya's hosting of 'The View' linked to her 'disappearance'?

Sports analyst Bill Simmons who hosts a podcast called 'The Bill Simmons Podcast' on The Ringer has made a claim about NBC correspondent Michele Tafoya. Simmons says that Tafoya might have been 'shadowbanned' by NBC.

Simmons' podcast is famous forhonest reviews of games. In his most recent podcast, he stated that Tafoya’s disappearance from the game is more than just a break. "There’s some good conspiracy stuff going on about this," Simmons said. "Because she hosted ‘The View’ at the beginning of November... she was in the conservative seat, then a couple of weeks later, all of a sudden, she was on the bye. Take a break. "It would be one thing if the show was on 52 weeks a year, but it’s only on 17 weeks a year. Do you need three weeks off during a 17-week season?"

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Tafoya, 56, has worked for NBC as a correspondent since 2011. She had previously worked on ESPN's 'Monday Night Football' sidelines. Kathryn Tappen has been filling in for Tafoya. Sports journalist Andrew Marchand pointed out that in his tweet that Tafoya appeared on the sidelines of a few 'Sunday Night Football' games in between her 'View' appearance and an apparent three-week hiatus. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth now take a couple of dates off each year, and Mike Tirico and Drew Brees have stepped in. Nonetheless, some, such as Simmons, believe she may be subject to a shadowban for agitating progressives.

Simmons concluded by saying that if he were Tafoya, he would be concerned about an understudy gaining traction. "Aren't you protecting your seat if I'm Michele Tafoya?" Simmons inquired. "I don't want anyone on the sidelines reporting for me. What if they outperform me?" For the third week in a row, Tafoya was absent from the broadcast of the Bears-Packers game on Sunday night. Marchand inquired about it and was told that NBC is giving its announcers "bye weeks" this year.

Marchand's tweet read: "NBC Sports spokesman on Michele Tafoya's third straight game off: "As we’ve done repeatedly, we’re again giving our SNF announcers bye weeks in 2021, and we plan to do it well into the future.'"