Stephen A. Smith is weighing in on Shannon Sharpe’s exit from ESPN, a community Smith has labored intently with for years. The “First Take” host took to his YouTube and iHeartRadio present to share his ideas on Sharpe, saying that he’ll certainly “miss” seeing Sharpe on “First Take” with him.
As we reported, Sharpe introduced on Thursday that “at this juncture,” he determined to “step apart briefly” from his duties at ESPN. Sharpe is at present being sued by his former girlfriend for $50 million for alleged sexual abuse amid their two-year relationship, inflicting a little bit of a media frenzy surrounding the previous NFL participant and media persona.
On Smith’s present, he stated, “When the information got here down that he and ESPN had mutually agreed that he would wish to come back off the airwaves of ESPN, it was a blow, a blow to the present, a blow to me personally, as a result of I’m going to overlook him, however it was not a shock,” as Deadline stories.
Smith defined that working for an organization like Disney, which owns ESPN, means there’s a sure expectation. “He was working at Disney,” Smith detailed. “I’ve been at Disney since October of 2003. I do know this place. I do know the worldwide chief that’s ESPN … it wasn’t troublesome for me to determine what was transpiring.”
As we reported, an ESPN spokesperson shared an announcement in assist of Sharpe’s resolution moments after it was launched. “This can be a severe scenario, and we agree with Shannon’s resolution to step away,” the assertion reads. “Whereas nothing concerning the verbiage of both assertion confirms a everlasting departure, his return definitely feels up within the air.”
Smith added when discussing the matter, “ESPN and Disney have a wait and see angle in terms of no matter proof they might study this complete scenario involving Shannon Sharpe from a authorized, from a civil perspective.”
Naturally, individuals have taken to social media with their ideas on what Smith has stated about Sharpe. One person wrote on X, previously often known as Twitter, “Stephen A is lowkey completely happy this occurred—he sees him as competitors, already benefited from him, and that is the right method to half methods.”
Different feedback don’t essentially see the scenario in that very same approach, with one other person writing that Smith doesn’t throw Shannon Sharpe “below the bus.” It reads, “He stated he doesn’t imagine Shannon did this in any respect.”
Time will inform whether or not or not Sharpe will return to “First Take” within the coming weeks or in any respect.