Nearly two years since his cohost was removed from ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith is shedding more light on why he wanted Max Kellerman off the show.
Back in September 2021, Kellerman, who’d hosted First Take alongside Stephen A. and Molly Qerim Rose since July 2016, departed the debate show over chemistry issues with Smith. To his credit, Stephen A. has remained consistent when speaking about the pair’s decision to part ways.
During a recent appearance on the Dan Le Batard Show, Smith shared more details about why he wanted to move on from Kellerman.
“I don’t want anybody to assume Max Kellerman doesn’t work hard, Max Kellerman is a bad person, Max Kellerman is not somebody anybody should want to work with. That’s not what that was about,” Smith began. “It was about that a debate show requires certain things that I believe he did not bring to the table when it came to sitting opposite of me.”
According to Smith, the pair’s demise was simply due to chemistry issues.
“As far as I was concerned, Max Kellerman and I did not work for me,” he added. “It was not a show I wanted to be apart of.”
Watch Smith’s full explanation in the tweet below.
How does Max Kellerman feel about how things ended at First Take? "I have no clue…I don’t want nobody to assume he doesn’t work hard…that’s not what it was about." - @stephenasmith Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First …
