“The rumors are true… I wanted Max Kellerman off the show”: Stephen A Smith explains his controversial decision to have his co-host taken off of First Take

ESPN analyst Stephen A Smith opens up about his role in Max Kellerman leaving ‘First Take’ and his reason behind the decision

A few weeks ago, there was a dramatic announcement coming from the ESPN studios. Max Kellerman, co-host of the talk show ‘First Take’ was to be taken off the show. The sudden announcement came as a surprise, but it did not really shock anyone.

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To have a successful talk show, you need strong chemistry between the hosts. While Smith and Kellerman started off strong, over the years, their chemistry had faded. Things between Smith and Kellerman weren’t the best as well. Smith believed Max had a ‘smarter than everyone’ attitude, which did not complement a debating contest. Recently, Stephen A Smith opened up about Max leaving the show, and his role in the same.

Stephen A Smith was not happy with his chemistry with Max Kellerman

Recently, it was announced that Max Kellerman would have his own show on ESPN ‘This Just In’. After Max was fired from ‘First Take’, it was announced that Stephen A would have a constantly changing panel of analysts to come and debate with him.

Smith sat down and opened up about the whole ordeal of what transpired with Max Kellerman.

“The rumors are accurate in terms of me wanting him off the show. Let’s get that out of the way. Yes, I did. We don’t have a bad relationship. I think he’s a real good guy. I appreciate what he did for the show. We were No. 1 for five years. We stayed No. 1, and I appreciate that.”

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However, Smith also revealed that he wasn’t going to leave his co-host hanging in the dark. He was sure there were more spots for Kellerman in ESPN before he demanded for a change.

“It’s not like I wanted the guy to be fired or anything like that. I knew that there were landing spots for him available at this network that would generate just as much, if not more, revenue for him and all of that other stuff.”

Smith seems to be enjoying debating with his new panelists every episode.