"Over his 30+ year career, Kelly Slater has changed the landscape of surfing."

The world’s winningest surfer, Kelly Slater, has just signed with powerhouse Hollywood talent agency WME. Based in Beverly Hills, California, the company is a combination of William Morris, the world’s first talent agency founded in 1898 representing vaudeville stars and later Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers and Mae West, and Endeavor, founded by Ari Emanuel (inspiration behind Ari Gold in HBO hit Entourage) in 1995.

Today’s stars include Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Dwayne Johnston and, now, Kelly Slater.

The PR team took to Instagram, today, to announce:

Welcome to WME, @kellyslater!
———
Over his 30+ year career, Kelly Slater has changed the landscape of surfing. He holds nearly every major record in the sport. With 11 World Surf League (WSL) titles and 56 WSL career victories, Kelly has the distinction of being both the youngest and oldest person to ever win a world title.

He is a five-time Laureus World Sports Award winner for Action Sportsperson of the Year, a two-time X Games gold medalist, a five-time ESPY nominee for Best Male Action Sports Athlete, and a 19-time Surfer Poll Awards winner.

Beyond surfing, Kelly has built a global platform around sustainability and wellness. In 2014, he founded @outerknown, a sustainable clothing brand committed to responsible production practices. He also acquired majority ownership of Firewire Surfboards—considered the most sustainable surfboard platform in the world—and later launched Slater Designs. In 2015, he introduced the Kelly Slater Wave Company, creators of the world’s most advanced wave technology.

Kelly has appeared in Baywatch, Surf’s Up, The Ultimate Surfer, Momentum Generation, Ballers, Carpool Karaoke, Make or Break, and more. He presented at the 94th Academy Awards and was the focus of the 2024 portrait book A Life of Waves. He is also the author of two bestselling books and was featured in the Activision video game Kelly Slater Pro Surfer.

I was very impressed and shouted the news to my wife, who happened to be in the other room on a work call. She is also a notable agent. I said, “Kelly Slater just signed with WME.”

She answered, “Why?”

Wondering, I suppose, what his current market value is/why he needs a talent agent.

I was crestfallen by her lack of interest or care.

She may be unaware of his music career.

Or those two bestselling books.

"While I was passive in this action, I do know most of the local community was relived the shark that bit me was killed…"

It is difficult to believe that it’s been nearly a quarter century since Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm. The thirteen-year-old up-and-comer was out surfing Tunnels, off Kauai’s North Shore, when a massive tiger shark attacked, nipping the limb at the shoulder in the flash of an eye. Mercifully, the Blanchard family was in the water, at the time, and were able to get Hamilton to shore and stabilized enough to survive a trip to the hospital. Once there, doctors went to work, saving the young woman’s life.

When news of the attack broke, a group of fishermen took to the sea and caught a 14-foot beast less than a mile from the attack. Its jaws fit the bite mark on Hamilton’s board and police later confirmed it was, in fact, the responsible shark.

Hamilton’s journey back to surfing, and surfing at a ridiculously high level, has been well-documented and rightly praised as one of the most inspiring stories of the 21st century though that doesn’t stop some from grousing.

The now-35-year-old was forced to defend the slaying of the shark. Taking to Instagram, Hamilton said, “One person even asked, ‘Why did you kill the shark?'”

“I had no clue, like I was not involved. It wasn’t my choice. I did nothing in this situation,” she continued, noting she was in the hospital fighting for her life when the fishermen fished. She also said if she did, in fact, kill the shark, that would be “super beast mode.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Bethany Hamilton (@bethanyhamilton)

She, anyhow, goes on to explain, captioning thusly:

While I was passive in this action, I do know most of the local community was relived the shark that bit me was killed…
It was cruising surf line ups for weeks! And yes I know we are in their environment… On the mention of shark safety, I do think the Sharkbanz is a great support to oppose shark culling! People can choose to use it for added safety or not!
I think it’s a much better option than nets (that mess with other animals) and culling.

Thoughts?

"With the updated formats, we’ll see higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season."

The 2025 World Surf League Championship Tour is not yet over. Teahupo’o is the only event remaining before the “Final Five” head to Fiji to battle for the crown. Exciting days ahead for all, save Filipe Toledo, surf fans licking chops in anticipation. The World Surf League, though, added even more excitement with a delicious hors d’oeuvres. The official ’26 CT schedule.

Per the presser:

Today, the World Surf League (WSL) released the schedule for the 2026 Championship Tour (CT) and shared the new event formats. Marking the 50th year of professional surfing, the combined men’s and women’s calendar, which includes an increased women’s field, will feature 12 events in total. Nine regular-season stops and two postseason events will culminate in a revitalized Pipe Masters that will close the season with a high-stakes, all-inclusive finale.

“These changes reflect our commitment to honoring surfing’s legacy while continuing to shape its future as the sport enters its 50th year,” said Ryan Crosby, WSL CEO. “With the updated formats, we’ll see higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season. Combined with iconic locations, the expanded women’s field, and Pipeline as the pinnacle, we’re building a Tour that better serves our athletes and fans, and leads the sport into its next chapter.”

2026 Championship Tour Schedule

Stop No. 1 – Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia: April 1 – 11
Stop No. 2 – Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia: April 17 – 27
Stop No. 3 – Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia: May 2 – 12
Stop No. 4 – Punta Roca, El Salvador: May 28 – June 7
Stop No. 5 – Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: June 12 – 20
Stop No. 6 – Jeffreys Bay, South Africa: July 10 – 20
Stop No. 7 – Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia: August 8 – 18
Stop No. 8 – Cloudbreak, Fiji: August 25 – September 4
Stop No. 9 – Lower Trestles, San Clemente, Calif., USA: September 11 – 20*
Stop No. 10 – Surf Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE: October 14 – 18**
Stop No. 11 – Peniche, Portugal: October 22 – November 1
Stop No. 12 – Banzai Pipeline, Hawaiʻi, USA: December 8 – 20***

*Last regular-season event
**Start of postseason, reduced field
**Full CT fields rejoin postseason surfers to compete for Pipe Masters Titles

Thoughts?

He's number 1!

Surf fans around the world are standing, as one, and applauding as the much-beloved World Surf League broadcaster Joe Turpel claimed a Sports Emmy Award from the National Academy Television Arts and Sciences. The 46th running of the event was held, in person, at the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City on May 20th.

Surf fans have, of course, long swooned to Turpel’s velvety pipes as he calls most of the World Surf League Championship Series events alongside the likes of Jesse Mendes, Mitch Saladbar, Molly Picklum, Ronald Blakey, Strider Wasilewski, Rosy Hodge and others.

Non-surf fans got a sampling of the brunette’s wit and charm as part of this past summer’s Paris Games wherein Turpel called the surf action from Tahiti.

The “Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (NBC / Peacock)” were the big Emmy winners, taking home 10 wins in total, including: Outstanding Live Sports Special – Championship Event, Outstanding Open/Tease and Outstanding Interactive Experience among others.

Turpel’s golden statuette reads, “2024-2025 Sports Emmy Awards Outstanding Live Special – Championship. Games of the XXXIII Olympiad NBC-Peacock Joe Turpel Play-by-Play.”

I was very pleased that Turpel beat all-comers over all sports, a win for surfing, but double checked the Sports Emmy winning list and discovered Joe Davis, from Fox, won “Outstanding Personality/ Play-by-Play” for his baseball calls.

I further learned that NBC hired over 150 play-by-play commentators for the ’24 Games.

Still, 1 of 150 ain’t bad and do you have a Sports Emmy?

Then shut up.