ESPN star Stephen A. Smith opened up on the departure of his former ‘First Take’ host, Molly Qerim.
Qerim’s departure in September came as a surprise to many fans of the show after she had been the host for a decade.
Smith made an appearance on the Netflix show ‘The White House with Michael Irvin’ – where the host was joined by another former NFL star Brandon Marshall.
In the episode, Smith maintained that Qerim’s departure didn’t have anything to do with him – even though he’s the executive producer of the show.
‘Molly decided that she wanted to leave, and she had some issues that I’m not going to discuss,’ Smith said.
‘It wasn’t with me, but she had some issues that was foremost on her mind and she made the decision to abruptly resign.’
Stephen A. Smith admitted he misses former ‘First Take’ host Molly Qerim after her departure
Qerim hosted the show for exactly ten years before leaving in September of 2025
Qerim had been enjoying some much-deserved time off before taking a new job
‘When [her departure] happened, it was incredibly unfortunate,’ Smith added. ‘I can tell you that Molly and I worked together for 10 years — I loved Molly. I didn’t want her to leave.’
Qerim became the show’s full-time host on September 15, 2015. On September 15, 2025, she hosted ‘First Take’ for the final time after reports indicated she was angling toward a move away.
Smith opened the broadcast on September 16 by saying he ‘was not aware that this is something she was contemplating doing.’
ESPN’s president of content, Burke Magnus, told The Athletic they ‘were going to make a change’ to the host – but Qerim ended up leaving before her contract expired.
‘After much reflection, I’ve decided it’s time to close this incredible chapter and step away from First Take,’ Qerim wrote in a post to her Instagram story. ‘Hosting this show has been one of the greatest honors of my career.
‘Every morning, I had the privilege of sharing the desk with some of the most brilliant, passionate, and entertaining voices in sports — and with all of you, the best fans in the world.’
Since leaving, Qerim has jumped to Paramount+ where she has been one of the voices behind Zuffa Boxing.
Eventually, the show ended up replacing her with Shae Cornette – who had been at the ‘Worldwide Leader’ since 2019.