The ongoing beef between former ESPN colleagues Jalen Rose and Stephen A. Smith added another chapter in recent days.
Rose, who once described Smith as a friend and brother, used his personal X (Twitter) account to take multiple shots at the current ESPN “First Take” personality following Smith’s latest public apology; Smith apologized last Friday to former NBA player Iman Shumpert and Shumpert’s ex-wife, entertainer Teyana Taylor, after Smith inaccurately described the terms of their divorce settlement.
During conversations with other social media users about his recent shot at Smith, Rose also addressed accusations that Smith had been romantically involved with the former NBA player’s ex-wife Molly Qerim, who was the host on “First Take” alongside Smith for a decade until departing in September 2025.
“Been doing a lot of tap dancing, I mean apologizing,” Rose wrote about Smith in one tweet.
Multiple social media users then accused Rose of attacking Smith because he is upset about speculation online that Smith and Qerim had sexual relations in the past.
“If you think [Smith] could smash any woman of mine, I wanna sell you some swamp land in Detroit,” Rose replied to one X user that claimed Rose was only addressing Smith because of the Qerim rumors.
“Yall low vibration ninjas be groupies,” Rose said to another X user. “[Smith] would throw a parade if [Qerim] ever dreamed about getting with him.”
“How about we box 3 rounds?” Rose then said to a X user who joked that Smith slept with Rose’s mother.
Rose and Qerim got married in July 2018. The union lasted just over three years, though, as the couple announced a divorce in December 2021. Prior to that announcement, Rose and Qerim had been separated for a year.
The latest episode of Rose’s feud with Smith is not the first time Rose has publicly addressed speculation that Smith had a romantic relationship with Qerim — Smith and Qerim have maintained publicly for years that their relationship was strictly professional.
In an April 2022 interview with GQ, Rose spoke out about how the rumors about Smith and Qerim affected him.
“I’m not here to speak for what [Smith] does in his personal life or what [Qerim] does in her personal life, I got love for both of them,” Rose said in 2022. “We still 100. I would just say that for people who thought we parted ways because they have a relationship? Then I got some swampland in Detroit to sell you for top dollar. That is not why we split.
“I still see that, by the way. I might say something about someone’s team and I’ll see, ‘That’s why Molly left him!’ or ‘That’s why Stephen A. kickin’ it wit’ yo ex-wife!’ That’s not true. But, when it happened, it’s two ways for me to handle it as a professional: I work with him, I got love for him, and that’s my brother.
“I got love for her, we were friends before we were married, we just didn’t work as a couple. I just saw her today. We cool! But for me to see the speculation and for people to assume that was why, it bothered me.”
Smith has issued several public apologies in the past year. Perhaps the most notable one was an apology to Black U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett after criticizing the tone of the Texas Democrat’s consistent critiques of President Donald Trump.
Smith’s opinion of Crockett’s behavior, among others, led to him receiving a “Thumbs Down Award” from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in August.
Last week, Smith also delivered a lengthy apology after insensitively joking about the Philadelphia Eagles following the surprise retirement of future Hall of Fame offensive lineman Lane Johnson. The 14-year NFL veteran cited mental health concerns in deciding to walk away just four weeks into the NFL season.
It is unclear exactly when, or why, the friendship between Rose and Smith deteriorated, but it is once again apparent that the relationship no longer exists.
Sometime on Monday afternoon, Rose deleted all of his recent tweets aimed at Smith, as the posts no longer appear on his X account.
