In the aftermath of Molly Querim abruptly leaving ESPN, apparently due to some kind of contract dispute, Stephen A. Smith addressed the situation on his podcast. Or should we say, he addressed the general intricacies and pitfalls of negotiating without leverage.
A YouTube clip of his “Stephen A. Smith” podcast suggests that he is sending a message to Molly and all of the fans who are bewildered and in the dark about why the decade-long co-host would leave the show when it is still at its peak and ratings gold.
We do know that Qerim was offered a contract and she turned it down for whatever reason. She didn’t get into it deeply when she confirmed on Instagram that she was leaving the network, after it was “leaked.” When someone departs from a situation abruptly, they either have another opportunity cooking or there was a fracture somewhere in communication and valuation.
Stephen A. Smith Sends Message About Pitfalls Of Overvaluing Oneself In Contract Negotiations: Message To Molly?
“I wanna move on to a broader subject about this, and this part isn’t about Molly. News for you, you can’t wake up and be Mad Dog Russo. You can’t wake up and be Adam Schein. You can’t wake up and be Stephen A. Smith. It takes work.
In the end we all have people to answer too. It doesn’t have to be about her, but when you have negotiations and talking to people and going back and forth and hearing things you may not want to hear and feeling things you may not want to feel. Even though you are valued, even though people acknowledge those kinds of things…we live in a world where we have to grow up.”
Who’s he talking to?
Smith continued: “Again. I’m not talking about Molly here. But I’m watching and have been watching over the last several years. People in this business fall by the waistside because we forget that all of us ultimately answer to other people. We don’t get to define our own values. We don’t get to define our own worth. We don’t get to sit there and say this is who I am and this is what I’m going to do and I don’t give a damn about what anybody says, unless you have the leverage to do it.”
Smith Lauds His “By The Numbers” Approach In Negotiation Of $100M ESPN Contract
Smith says when he was negotiating his $100M contract with ESPN, he left emotion and ego out of it.
“When you hear me at a time when we were discussing my contract negotiations all over the media and all over the sports world…What I talked about was what my worth was based on what the numbers show. These are the ratings, this is the revenue,” Smith said.
“Everyone of us answers to somebody,” he reiterated. “This notion that everybody gets to do what they want to do, when they want to do it, how they want to do it, when you have your hand out for other people’s money. It doesn’t work like that.”
“It can all evaporate in a snap if you lose perspective.”
Stephen A. Smith reiterated that he wasn’t talking about Molly, but the person who posted the video sure thinks he was.
