A furious Stephen A. Smith has revealed ESPN bosses know he is ‘not happy’ about the decision to fire Ryan Clark after his First Take colleague fell victim to a brutal round of cuts at the network.
ESPN is set to announce that several of its top on-air talent is being laid off, with $2m-a-year NFL analyst Clark one of many to be let go.
Yet astonishingly, he was reportedly informed of the decision while in the middle of filming a show on Monday night.
In the wake of Clark’s dismissal, Smith has taken to his YouTube channel to express his dismay with the decision, while repeatedly referring to the former safety as ‘arguably the best NFL analyst in America.’
‘It hurts. It really does,’ the $21m-a-year ESPN star said about Clark, who regularly appeared on the morning sports talk show.
‘I understand the business. I understand layoffs come. I understand that there have been other names that have been a part of it in the past and there’s going to be names in the future. Hell, one of them might be mine.’
Stephen A. Smith says ESPN know he is ‘not happy’ about the decision to fire Ryan Clark
ESPN is set to announce that several of its top on-air talent is being laid off, including $2m-a-year NFL analyst Clark
However, he continued: ‘I am not happy about this decision one bit. The bosses know I’m not happy about this decision. I’ve made that very very clear.
‘But it’s also important that myself and anybody else in the world of business be grown-ups and understand that these are the kind of things that happen when layoffs happen.’
Smith claims that ESPN consulted him about parting company with Clark, before he told them ‘we have to keep him’ despite the ‘fiscal and financial circumstances’ being somebody else’s responsibility.
He also said he has ‘blisters on my tongue and my fingers from biting my tongue’ after seeing people commending ESPN’s decision to let Clark go.
But the First Take host concluded his rant by tipping Clark to bounce back from this disappointment.
‘I’m not sorry for you because I know you going to be just fine,’ Smith said. ‘I’m sorry for us that we ain’t gonna have the opportunity to continue to have you on the airwaves for ESPN and specifically First Take. It ain’t going to be the same without you.’
As well as Clark, former NFL MVP Cam Newton is another casualty of ESPN’s cuts after losing his job on First Take less than a year after being handed a contract extension.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, which was recently acquired by ESPN, is also being let go, as are longtime sports host and play-by-play baseball commentator Karl Ravech, ex-linebacker Bart Scott, NFL analyst Charles Davis, SportsCenter icon David Lloyd and injury expert Stephania Bell.
Smith, one of the network’s biggest stars, believes they are losing ‘arguably the best NFL analyst in America’
The outspoken and Clark has proven to be a controversial figure during his time at ESPN
Former NFL MVP Cam Newton is another ESPN personality that has been let go amid the cuts
ESPN declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail.
Newton was only awarded with a new deal by ESPN in August 2025, yet almost six months later the NFL acquired a 10 percent equity stake in the broadcasting company, which received NFL Network and other assets in return.
In a memo sent to staffers this week, which was obtained by Awful Announcing, ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro said they have been forced to make ‘difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today’ as part of restructuring in light of the NFL deal.
The full memo reads: ‘Team: Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN. Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future. As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today.
‘While most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted. We are committed to treating employees with compassion and respect and to providing support as they navigate this transition. Even in moments like these, the strength of ESPN comes from our people, our teamwork and our shared mission to serve sports fans.’
