It’s becoming clear that Stephen A. Smith is the undisputed champion of “First Take.”
His former co-host, Max Kellerman, who became a household name because of boxing, and who was the original host of the now canceled “Around the Horn,” broke his silence on “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” now an employee of “The Ringer” network for a new show with Rich Paul, to address what went wrong with the bombastic $105 million ESPN superstar on “First Take.”
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Dec 5, 2002; Washington, DC, USA; Sports columnists on television — Max Kellerman poses on the set of ESPN’s show Around the Horn with sports columnists on the monitors in background. Columnists are, from left, J.A. Adande, Woody Paige, Tim Cowlishaw and Jay Mariotti. | H. Darr Beiser/USA TODAY via Imagn Images
Kellerman generally danced around any direct shots at Stephen A., but it was pretty clear that it left a bitter taste in his mouth, with one little jab especially.
“Stephen A. was the one partner I’ve ever had over the years where I didn’t feel like a relationship was really forming,” Kellerman said.
SAS is ESPN’s $105 million ‘solo act’
Molly Qerim and Stephen A. Smith on ‘First Take’ | Julie Vennitti Botos / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Kellerman also tried to take credit that he was too much of a heavyweight, awkwardly calling himself “Muhammad Kellerman” like the GOAT Muhammad Ali, for Stephen A.’s liking.
“I also think that if you make a calculation, that if you can be perceived as a solo act, really, that you can get paid at a certain level that you can’t if you’re not a solo act,” Kellermand said. “Then you’d like to be a solo act, or at least perceived that way.”
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What’s so disappointing about the Qerim situation is that she had a great rapport with Smith, so if he truly wanted to go to bat for her when contract negotiations went down, he could have.
Could Stephen A. have saved Qerim’s job at ESPN?
Molly Qerim on ‘First Take’ | Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK
To put it bluntly, yes, but that would have probably cost him some of that $105 million.
Another former ESPN star, Pablo Torre, now crushing it as the preeminent investigative journalist on his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” said as much recently.
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Molly Qerim | IMAGO / Cover-Images
“He staffs the show, he picks the players on the team, he is the star of it,” Torre said. “So I think what’s frustrating for anybody who worked at ESPN and sort of felt like, ‘I’m on the team too.’ It’s that there’s a pretty brutal math problem that I think Stephen A. is happy to do, in which he’s like ‘We can find someone to play that role.’ And that sucks, I like Molly a lot, that sucks.”
So while Qerim looks for her next role, Stephen A. has to take some of the blame for ESPN not retaining her, only insulting the veteran sports anchor with an an offer so low, she felt compelled to quit.
Feb. 8, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Molly Qerim on the red carpet before the NFL Honors show at Resorts World Theatre. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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