Last week Stephen A. Smith made an appearance on the “Flagrant and Funny” podcast hosted by his ESPN colleagues Jemele Hill and Cari Champion. The three touched a bevy of topics, and things even got a little intense during the interview.
One topic that came up is Smith saying he helped Champion land her original job at the network as the moderator of his hit show “First Take.” Champion didn’t see it that way and claimed Smith’s influence didn’t play a major role in her getting hired by the network. She says she was chosen because of her hard work. Smith, however, disputed that notion, stating that he did indeed give her the necessary push with executives. According to Smith, at that time, it was Bayless who didn’t want her on the show.
Did Cari Champion Lie Or Stephen A. Smith?
Smith claims Champion reached out to him right after Molly Qerim left ESPN about possibly returning to First Take and the convo went left. Champion said she never reached out to Smith at all about the job.
“You wanted the job for SportsCenter. You wanted to come back,” Smith said.“That is NOT true Stephen A. I know you lying. We are disagreeing right now,” Cari insisted.
“When Molly resigned a few months ago, did you not reach out?,” Smith asked her.
“NO… Where and when? … That was my support of you Black man… Even as I sit here and talk to you, I ain’t even mad at you. I thought I would be wanting to fight you outside.”
Cari Champion Says She Never Wanted Molly Qerim’s First Take Seat Back
Two days later Champion is saying she did reach out to him but only to gossip.
“I do know that there’s a worldwide debate now suggesting I wanted Molly’s job,” Cari said on her podcast following the three-hour interview with Smith.
“There is no debate,” her co-host Jemele Hill interjected. “She did not want that job back, she never did.”
“You and I all know,” Champion continued. “God bless that man cause he can cap. He can sell it too. In my mind I think he is saying something he thinks happened. I was calling to gossip off the record like what happened, if at all.”
“That is crazy,” Hill said.
“It is so insane and it’s almost the same story,” Champion added. “He was surprised that I wasn’t talking to him for 10 years. It’s definitely one of these stories where we will all agree to disagree.”
What everyone can agree on is somebody is not telling the truth. Cari totally denied even speaking to Smith about the Molly situation. Said he got catfished. Then proceeded to say how if she did call it was to find out information about why Molly departed, just to “gossip.”
Those got fans questioning the validity of her original story.
Fans Aren’t Buying Champion’s Story
The social media opinions came flooding in when Cari’s emotional denial appeared to become a master class in backtracking, with Hill as a willing cheerleader.
“So full of crap. She sat in front of SAS lying and saying that she never called or texted him,” a fan said.
“She literally said in the interview that she didn’t reach out to Stephen A. Smith. Bro, these kind of women are untrustworthy,” another fan said.
“She debunked her own lie in 2 days. That has to be a record,” someone else replied.
“You called Stephen A. Smith to gossip ???? Get the fuck outta here Cari champion,” a person commented.
“Everyone knew she was lying by how she reacted, now she’s doubling down on it smh,” a fan mentioned.
“Thought she said she didn’t reach out…lies on lies,” a fan quipped.
“Cari looking more foolish everytime she speaks it’s unfortunate,” another fan spewed.
It’s obvious someone isn’t telling the truth, and as wild as it seems, SAS might actually be absolved of any non-truths being told because Champion’s story just isn’t adding up.
Smith Calls Out Hill And Champion: Platform Gained Over 20,000 YouTube Subscribers After Interview
With the interview in the books and by far the most viewed and successful interview that Hill and Champion have had on their podcast, Smith only asked for a couple things to sit with them for free, and according to him that hasn’t happened.
“Before the interview took place I specifically requested that the entire interview from start to finish be unedited.”
Smith says his recent viral interview with Champion and Hill was edited as he pushes back on the idea that his appearance may not have benefited their podcast, highlighting that the platform gained over 20,000 YouTube subscribers after his appearance and saying “a simple thank you would’ve suffice.”
Smith says he did the interview with Champion and Hill in good faith because they were his former colleagues. They then turned around and acted like they didn’t know whether the episode even benefited them. Before that, they were at 9K subscribers; now they’re at 30K. Their highest-rated episode had 35K views, and this one is now at 500K with over a million combined on both parts.
