The word the headline was searching for was “smarmy”.
Good one! How about Smarmy Swami Scarborough? :-)
There's also "sketchy," which is used by Millennials word that means "smarmy" or "sleazy."
Another similar Millennial word is "skeevy," which was picked up on by Steely Dan in their song Cousin Dupree:
One night we're playin' gin by a cracklin' fire
And I decided to make my play
I said, "babe with my boyish charm and good looks
How can you stand it for one more day?"
She said, "maybe its the skeevy look in your eyes
Or that your mind has turned to applesauce
The dreary architecture of your soul"
I said: "but what is it exactly turns you off"?