Veteran ESPN broadcaster Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo has claimed Molly Qerim left the network because she likely felt ’embarrassed’ by her possible removal from First Take.
Qerim shocked viewers of the popular sports talk show after abruptly ending her 19-year stint with ESPN last month, despite initial reports suggesting she would walk away at the end of the year.
Amid those reports, the 41-year-old took to Instagram to confirm she was bowing out as First Take host following a decade in the hot-seat.
Long-time colleague and on-air partner Stephen A. Smith then revealed a day later that she had actually left the entire company.
Following her stunning exit, ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus admitted that she had surprised them with the timing of her decision, but explained how they had recently failed to come to terms over a renewal.
And Russo has now claimed Qerim likely walked away when she did to save face as network bosses considered removing her from the show.
Molly Qerim left ESPN because she felt ’embarrassed’ by her potential removal from First Take
Russo revealed Qerim most likely didn’t want to work for ESPN if she was not on First Take
‘I think they probably wanted to move her around a little bit and try something different,’ Russo said on the SI Media podcast this week.
‘Not that the ratings were bad, it’s just the nature of the beast. You’re on air forever, they like to make a change for making a change’s sake. I think they wanted to keep Molly with the network, and I don’t know if Molly wanted to do that.
‘Because I think Molly probably looked at as, “If I’m not going to do First Take, I don’t want to do SportsCenter.” So she probably felt that that would be a demotion, I would assume.
‘I think she precipitated it. I think, probably, she felt embarrassed. I didn’t talk to her about the specifics of why she decided as soon as it was in the Sports Business Journal, but that’s what I’m thinking.
‘That she probably would have felt embarrassed if the world would have thought she was a lame duck and she was still doing the show.’
It comes just weeks after former ESPN star Marcellus Wiley claimed Qerim left because she was only earning $500k per year – despite First Take partner Stephen A. raking in almost 40 times as much.
According to Wiley, who previously co-hosted the show ‘SportsNation’ with Qerim on ESPN, his former colleague felt ‘disrespected’ by her salary given that Smith recently agreed a new $20m-a-year contract.
Other female stars on the network, such as Malika Andrews and Mina Kimes, are also said to be making in the seven-figures, leaving Qerim unhappy given she had been an integral member of one of its most successful shows for quite some time.
Marcellus Wiley said Qerim left because she was earning way less than Stephen A. Smith
Wiley said on his ‘Dat Dude TV’ podcast, via Sports Illustrated, that Molly ‘wasn’t getting what she wanted’ and that she was earning ‘around half a million dollars a year’.
He also claimed that she wanted to go on and host other shows – including her own program – but ESPN bosses weren’t open to the idea.
‘That wasn’t happening,’ Wiley added. ‘They weren’t signing off on her doing her own show or any other show at the network. ‘Molly finally woke up and said enough is enough.’
During his interview with The Athletic, Magnus said that one of the reasons Qerim departed was because she wanted to do ‘other things’.
‘Molly Qerim is a wonderful person and an unbelievable teammate and colleague,’ he insisted. ‘There was a couple dimensions to this. One, is obviously we were in a renewal conversation. Two, is 10 years to do something like that is a long time.
‘I’m not going to speak for her, but I think there was a feeling that she wants to do other things, and successfully being on a top show like that for a decade qualifies as maybe I can turn the page and do something else.
‘We tried to have her do other things and to redo that agreement. It honestly became less about that, and more about, in my opinion, her wanting to do other and explore other things. It ended up being easier for her to make a clean break entirely.’
