One of the biggest voices of ESPN had some choice words for the criticism ESPN (DIS) -) is facing amid its latest round of layoffs.
Stephen A. Smith spoke on his podcast “The Stephen A. Show” on Wednesday, July 12 and responded to a story by The Athletic on the origins of Smith’s highly-successful ESPN show “First Take” as well as a discussion by the hosts of the “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” on the challenges ESPN may face given their layoffs.
DON’T MISS: Stephen A. Smith Gives Grim Outlook on ESPN Amid Recent Layoffs
ESPN laid off 20 on-air talents in late June as a part of Disney’s larger company-wide layoff of 7,000 employees.
“We ain’t going anywhere,” Smith said. “We’re number one, and I’m not just talking about ‘First Take' and I’m talking about ESPN.”
Dan Le Batard, who left ESPN at the start of 2021, called the layoffs the “worst day in the history of ESPN” during his podcast on July 5. He also said that he and his colleagues who were former ESPN employees like Amin Elhassan and Pablo Torre, “left in the nick of time.”
Elhassan, former Miami Marlins General Manager David Samson, and Mike Ryan Ruiz all spoke on their belief of the declining quality of ESPN’s content, even comparing it to the fall of newspapers.
“There’s a bunch of stuff where the quality is going to drop,” Elhassan said. “But the way the industry’s moving, I don’t know if quality is what’s going to keep people around anyway.”
Smith’s 25-minute monologue included numbers to show the constant success of his show and network, calling “First Take” the “number one” show for the last 11 years. And he took offense to the statements of quality from the former ESPN employees.
“I got this little agitation that swells up inside of me when I see people talking about the network, particularly people who used to work there,” Smith said. “What I won’t do is constantly lament an employer that was constantly good enough to take money from.”
Smith also said it was offensive to hear implications from Le Batard that Smith was not part of the ESPN employees who continue to do deep reporting in the space.
“I would never assume that Dan Le Batard is being extra for the purposes of trying to sell television and not being his true authentic self,” Smith said. “Do you have any idea how insulting it is to make those kind of implications?”
Smith did acknowledge that he has love for Le Batard and Elhassan and many of the other detractors of ESPN.
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About The Athletic story, Smith called it “a puff piece and an endorsement for Skip Bayless.” Smith said he has no problem with good things being said about Bayless as he credits the Fox Sports 1 host for the success of “First Take.”
However, his problem with the story was on how the piece represented him and “his show.”
“When you’re writing a piece and it’s supposed to be about First Take, and you’re talking about everybody from the past, what exactly is it that you’re trying to say?” Smith said.
Ultimately, Smith’s message to the critics was that he and the network would not be backing down from competition and that the new criticisms.
“Buckle up, you ain’t seen a damn thing yet. And I think it’s safe to say that I ain’t just saying that about ESPN’s First Take, I’m saying that about the entire damn network: We Win.”
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