The Real Reason Behind Molly Qerim’s ESPN Departure: A Complete Breakdown
September 16, 2025 — and everything that came after
On the morning of September 16, 2025, millions of First Take viewers tuned in expecting to see Molly Qerim at the desk she had occupied for a decade. Instead, Stephen A. Smith opened the show with a sentence that landed like a door slamming: “Normally, our friend Molly Qerim would greet you. However, Molly announced last night she will be departing from ESPN.”
There was no farewell episode. No final broadcast. No send-off with the crew she had worked alongside for ten years. Just an Instagram story posted the night before and an abrupt absence the following morning — a departure so sudden and so unexpected that even some of the people who knew it was coming were caught off guard by the timing.
In the five months since that morning, the story of why Molly Qerim left ESPN has been told in fragments — some of it by the people involved, some of it by insiders and colleagues, and some of it by inference from the facts that are publicly known. On February 13, 2026 — two days ago — Stephen A. Smith appeared on Netflix’s The White House with Michael Irvin and gave his most detailed account yet, confirming that there were “issues” that drove her out and that the decision ultimately came from above his level at the network.
This is the complete account: what happened, what led to it, what everyone has said about it, and what Molly Qerim has been doing since she walked out the door.
Who Is Molly Qerim? The Career Before the Exit
Before unpacking why she left, it is worth establishing clearly who Molly Qerim is — because her departure makes no sense without understanding the depth of what she contributed.
Molly Qerim Rose (she married former NBA star Jalen Rose in 2018 and has since divorced) was born on March 31, 1984, in New Haven, Connecticut. She is of Albanian and Italian heritage and grew up in Connecticut. She attended the University of Connecticut, earning a degree in Communications, and later pursued a Master of Business Administration from Quinnipiac University.
She began her broadcasting career in local Connecticut television before breaking into national sports media. Her path to ESPN was not a straight line:
ESPN (2006–2012): She first joined ESPN in 2006 as a SportsCenter anchor and reporter, working her way into the network’s rotation and establishing herself as a polished, knowledgeable presence.
CBS Sports (2012–2014): She departed ESPN for CBS Sports, where she served as a studio host and reporter for the network’s NFL coverage and other properties.
NFL Network (2013–2015): She joined the NFL Network as a host, covering the NFL Draft and other programming, building her football knowledge and her on-air confidence in a format that required her to command a broadcast on the sport’s most dedicated dedicated network.
Return to ESPN (2015): She returned to ESPN in 2015, initially as a fill-in host on First Take — the morning debate show that had, by then, become one of the most-watched programs in sports television, built around the titanic debating personality of Stephen A. Smith.
When her predecessor Cari Champion moved to anchoring SportsCenter, Qerim became First Take‘s permanent full-time host. She would hold that seat for ten years.
Over those ten years, Qerim became what the media industry calls the “traffic cop” of First Take — the host who introduces topics, manages the conversation, keeps the show on time and on structure, and prevents the daily shouting matches between Stephen A. Smith and whatever guest analyst is across the desk from veering into genuine chaos. It is a role that requires simultaneous skill sets that rarely coexist in one person: encyclopedic sports knowledge (so guests can’t embarrass you), lightning-quick reflexes (to redirect when a conversation goes off-rails), genuine warmth (to keep the energy from becoming hostile), and an enormous ego that does not need to be seen to be satisfied (because the host of a show built around someone else’s personality cannot flinch when that person dominates).
First Take was Number 1 all of those years she was hosting. “She made an incredible contribution to the success of the show,” Smith said after her departure.
The show she hosted went to number one in its timeslot. It launched careers. It set agendas for sports conversation across the industry. And she did it alongside one of the most dominant personalities in the history of sports media — a man who would later sign a $105 million contract with ESPN — for approximately $500,000 per year.
That salary figure is the first and most foundational fact of this story.
Is Milo Manheim Single or Secretly in Love? 💭💙Here’s What We Know—and What He’s Never Confirmed
The Contract Negotiations: The $500,000 Problem
In the spring and summer of 2025, Molly Qerim’s contract with ESPN was coming toward its end-of-year expiration. Contract renewal conversations were underway — and they were not going well.
Sports media insiders believe that contract negotiations played a central role in her departure. Qerim was reportedly making around $500,000 per year at ESPN.
Former ESPN analyst Marcellus Wiley framed the disparity starkly: “Reportedly, she’s making around half a million dollars a year. Now contrast that to $20 million a year for Stephen A. Smith, and he’s number one on the show, and you’re number two on the show, you could feel a certain type of way.”
The 40-to-1 pay ratio between the show’s host and its anchor is, by any standard, extraordinary. But there was a further complication: the comparisons weren’t just to Smith. Former ESPN analyst Marcellus Wiley claims Qerim took particular issue with Mina Kimes and Malika Andrews receiving much better deals from ESPN than her, despite her being on the biggest show on the network.
On the very same day Qerim’s departure became public — September 16, 2025 — ESPN announced it had reached a multi-year extension with rising star Malika Andrews, who hosts the network’s NBA Today and NBA Countdown. The timing of that announcement — releasing positive Malika Andrews news on the same day as the Qerim departure — was noticed by everyone in sports media. Whether it was deliberate or coincidental, it underscored exactly the dynamic Qerim was navigating: newer talents were being valued and retained with better deals, while the decade-long anchor of the network’s flagship morning show was being offered something she found insulting.
ESPN president of content Burke Magnus told The Athletic that even if Qerim had stayed, First Take would still be searching for a new host — confirming that ESPN had already decided to move in a different direction regardless of whether she re-signed.
That confirmation is the most important single fact in the entire story. ESPN had decided — at the executive level — that the future of First Take would not include Molly Qerim regardless of contract terms. She wasn’t just being lowballed; she was being transitioned out whether she agreed to be or not. The only real question was whether she would spend the final months of 2025 as a lame duck host with the whole industry watching, or leave immediately.
She left immediately.
The Night Everything Leaked: September 15, 2025
The specific circumstances of how Qerim’s departure became public are a crucial part of the story — because the way it happened added humiliation to disappointment.
Sports Business Journal initially reported on Monday evening, September 15, that Qerim would be leaving ESPN at the end of the year. Qerim was reportedly not on First Take on Tuesday morning, and her longtime co-host Stephen A. Smith made it seem like she was gone for good.
Qerim had finished her Monday show, worked a full day, and left as normal — with the understanding that the transition would be managed on a mutually agreed timeline. Then the Sports Business Journal story appeared that evening, written by reporter Austin Karp, and the timeline collapsed.
ESPN president Magnus explained: “The one thing that was unexpected was the timing of all this. She put out a statement because there was a report on it, so it kind of got out of our respective controls once that happened.”
Qerim indicated that the news had come out “earlier than I had intended, and not in the way that I hoped.”
Her statement, posted on her Instagram story: “After much reflection, I’ve decided it’s time to close this incredible chapter and step away from First Take. 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.”
The statement was gracious. What it wasn’t was what she had planned: a controlled exit with a proper farewell. Instead, she was forced to respond to a leak on someone else’s timeline. Former ESPN personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo suggested she left immediately because she felt embarrassed about appearing as a lame duck once the news was out: “I think she precipitated it… I think, probably, she felt embarrassed. I didn’t talk to her about the specifics, but that’s what I’m thinking — that she probably would have felt embarrassed if the world would have thought that she was a lame duck.”
The next morning, she wasn’t there. Stephen A. Smith opened the show without her, praised her contributions, and the era was over.
Bodybuilder and ‘Scary Movie’ Star Jayne Trcka Found Dead in Kitchen at 62 – Full Details
Stephen A. Smith’s Role: The Question Everyone Is Still Asking
The most contested dimension of the entire story is Stephen A. Smith’s role in it — because his position at ESPN is not simply that of a co-star. He is the show’s executive producer as well as its primary on-air talent, meaning he has creative and personnel influence that goes beyond what most television personalities wield.
Former ESPN personality Pablo Torre stated plainly on his podcast: “He staffs the show. He picks the players on the team. He is the star of it. For anyone who felt like, ‘I’m on the team too,’ the brutal math is this: Stephen A.”
Multiple insiders say Qerim received a contract offer so low that remaining at ESPN was essentially impossible. According to those insiders, her exit wasn’t a choice so much as a reaction to being undervalued. And because Smith effectively controls the show, colleagues believe that if he had taken a hard stand for her, ESPN would have followed. But he didn’t.
Marcellus Wiley was more direct: “If the 57-year-old signs off on someone, ESPN pays them, but if he doesn’t do it, then they won’t.”
Wiley also suggested the on-air chemistry was a facade: “One of the worst-kept secrets in the business is that they have a good relationship. They don’t, right? They kind of tired on each other. The point is they weren’t cool with each other to the point where — someone you work with for 10 years — you don’t even mention them when you’re gone.”
The detail Wiley flagged — that Qerim’s Instagram farewell statement did not mention Stephen A. Smith by name — is one of those small, specific, telling omissions that speaks volumes. She thanked “some of the most brilliant, passionate, and entertaining voices in sports.” She did not say: “I’ll miss my partner of ten years, Stephen A. Smith.” After a decade at the same desk, five days a week, that absence is not accidental.
Smith, for his part, was initially quoted saying ESPN “did not want to lose her” — and that “in the end she made the decision to walk away from the show.” He described her departure as “incredibly unfortunate” and praised her contributions. He also, notably, did not show up on air to introduce her final episode or give her the kind of farewell he might have. Former analyst Wiley specifically noted the contrast: Smith didn’t even show up for Max Kellerman’s last day on First Take. There is a pattern here.
February 13, 2026: Smith Finally Breaks His Silence (Sort Of)
On February 13, 2026 — two days ago — Stephen A. Smith appeared on Netflix’s The White House with Michael Irvin, hosted by former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin and featuring Brandon Marshall. He was asked directly about Qerim’s departure. For the first time publicly, he acknowledged that she had “issues” — without disclosing their nature — and that those issues drove her resignation.
“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.”
Smith reflected on their years of camaraderie and credited her for building the First Take brand — but said that her decision to leave was entirely her own and driven by internal factors beyond his control.
“When that happened, it was incredibly unfortunate,” Smith said. “I can tell you that Molly and I worked together for 10 years — I loved Molly. I didn’t want her to leave. Listen, I think Shae Cornette is doing an outstanding job for us. She knows her sports backwards and forwards. She is the real deal. But on a personal level, I definitely miss Molly, as do a lot of us, because we’re friends, and she was great.”
The February 13 comments represent Smith’s most detailed public accounting of the situation — and they still leave enormous gaps. He confirmed there were “issues.” He confirmed they were not with him. He confirmed the decision was Qerim’s. He did not confirm what the issues were, whether he could have intervened on her behalf, or why the contract offer was what it was.
As one media analysis noted, the explanation raises as many questions as it answers. If Smith valued Qerim as much as he says, why didn’t he push harder to keep her? If executives made the decision over his head, why frame it as Qerim choosing to leave? If she had “issues” that led to her resignation, what were they, and how did ESPN handle them?
Smith isn’t answering those questions. Whether he can’t or won’t is another question only he knows the answer to.
The Power Structure at ESPN: How First Take Really Works
To fully understand the Qerim departure, it helps to understand the unusual power dynamic at First Take — a show built so completely around one personality that its internal structure resembles a solo act with supporting cast more than a traditional morning debate program.
Stephen A. Smith is simultaneously:
- The show’s primary on-air talent
- The show’s executive producer
- A $105 million contracted employee whose deal was signed in 2025, making him the highest-paid personality in ESPN’s history
That triple role — performer, producer, and highest-paid employee — creates a situation where the interests of the individual and the network are deeply intertwined in ways that can crowd out other people’s interests. For anyone who felt like, “I’m on the team too,” the brutal math — as Torre framed it — is that Stephen A. is the sun around which First Take orbits. Co-hosts are interchangeable parts.
Protecting Molly Qerim would have meant pushing back on management. Pushing back on management might have jeopardized the size of his historic $105 million deal. And jeopardizing that deal was never an option, according to multiple insiders.
Max Kellerman — Smith’s former debate partner who was also eventually phased out of First Take — offered a comment that shed indirect light on the dynamic. Speaking on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Kellerman opened up about what it was like sitting opposite Stephen A.: “Stephen A. was the one partner I’ve had over the years where I didn’t feel like a relationship was really forming.” That single sentence said more than he ever had publicly — suggesting the dynamic between the two wasn’t just strained on-air, it was nonexistent behind the scenes.
Qerim and Kellerman had different roles — she hosted, he debated — but the pattern is consistent. People who work alongside Stephen A. Smith on First Take are ultimately serving the show’s primary function: making Smith’s arguments louder, sharper, and more watchable. When the cost of keeping someone becomes a complication, the complication loses.
ESPN’s Official Position: Burke Magnus’s Statement
ESPN’s public response to the departure was carefully worded in the way that all corporate statements about departing talent are carefully worded — warm enough to avoid generating headlines, specific enough to appear genuine, vague enough to leave nothing actionable.
ESPN president Burke Magnus issued a statement: “Molly has been an integral part of ESPN since 2006 and a key driver of ‘First Take’ success since joining as host a decade ago. She elevated the show with her poise, skill and professionalism, while supporting others as a kind and encouraging teammate. We respect Molly’s decision, wish her the best in the future, and thank her for her extraordinary daily commitment to sports fans and ESPN.”
What the statement did not say: anything about what the network offered her, why the offer was what it was, whether they tried to retain her, or what happened internally.
Magnus confirmed to The Athletic that ESPN had already decided to move Qerim off First Take by the end of 2025, regardless of whether she re-signed — meaning the question was never whether she would leave but only when.
The “we respect Molly’s decision” framing from Magnus is technically accurate — they did respect her decision to leave immediately rather than stay through year-end — but it obscures the fact that the decision was made for her before she formally made it herself.
The Replacement: Shae Cornette and the 30-to-45 Day Audition
After Qerim’s departure, ESPN spent 30 to 45 days auditioning potential hosts before naming Shae Cornette as her successor in mid-October 2025.
Cornette — a former Big Ten Network host who had joined ESPN in 2019 and had been the show’s top fill-in choice when Qerim was unavailable — was the familiar face the network ultimately selected. She knows sports rigorously. She has the composure to manage Smith’s energy. She was already known to the audience from her fill-in appearances.
Smith praised her publicly while drawing the distinction between appreciating what came before and moving forward: “I think Shae Cornette is doing an outstanding job for us. She knows her sports backwards and forwards. She is the real deal.”
The 30-to-45 day audition period — during which multiple potential hosts appeared on the show while Qerim was gone — had a particular quality of awkwardness that many viewers noted. The position was visibly being filled by someone else, publicly, while Qerim’s contributions were still fresh in the audience’s memory. It was a reminder that in television, as in most industries, the institution moves on with remarkable speed once the decision has been made.
What Molly Qerim Has Done Since Leaving ESPN
Since her September 2025 departure, Qerim has been thoughtful and measured in her public communications — not inflammatory, not bitter, not telling the full story she presumably has to tell.
She used her social media platform for causes she believes in, including posting in support of Los Angeles wildfire victims and sharing other community-minded content.
In January 2026, she announced her new role headlining boxing programming on Paramount+ alongside former First Take co-host Max Kellerman — a significant new opportunity that reunites her with someone who had his own complicated departure from First Take and who, notably, has been candid about his experience there.
The Paramount+ boxing role — covering Zuffa Boxing events — is her first major television role post-ESPN. She worked the first event in Las Vegas alongside Kellerman, reporter Mike Coppinger, analyst Mark Kriegel, and former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver. The assignment is smaller in scale than First Take — boxing programming on a streaming service, however high quality, is a narrower platform than ESPN’s morning flagship — but it is a start, a proof of continued professional life, and a working relationship with someone who understands her experience from the inside.
Smith, asked about her future on The White House with Michael Irvin, appeared to subtly leave a door open for her return to ESPN, though he was vague about it. Whether that door is genuinely open or whether it was a gracious thing to say in a public forum is impossible to know.
The Unresolved Questions: What We Still Don’t Know
Five months after the departure and two days after Smith’s most detailed public comments yet, there are still significant things we do not know:
What were the “issues” Smith referenced? He confirmed Qerim had “issues” that drove her resignation. He confirmed they were not with him. He declined to specify what they were. No one else with direct knowledge has filled that gap publicly.
Was the $500,000 salary figure accurate? It was reported by multiple outlets citing sports media insiders, but neither Qerim nor ESPN has confirmed or denied it. The figure is unverified.
Did Smith advocate for her retention? Multiple insiders say he did not — that his $105 million deal made pushing back on management on her behalf too costly. Smith has not directly addressed this.
Why did the SBJ story break when it did? The leak that accelerated the entire timeline — the Austin Karp story on September 15 — came from somewhere. Whether it was a management decision to control the narrative, an ESPN source, or something else has not been publicly identified.
What specifically will Qerim say when she tells her full story? She has not told it yet. Her public statements have been gracious and circumspect. At some point — in an interview, a podcast, a memoir, or simply a candid social media post — she will presumably say more. When she does, the full story will likely look quite different from any of the partial versions currently in circulation.
What This Story Is Really About: Pay Equity, Power, and Visibility
Stripped of the specific personalities and the specific network, the Molly Qerim story is about something that sports media — and media broadly — deals with constantly and poorly: the valuation of the people who make other people look good.
She hosted the number one morning sports show in America for ten years. She kept a singular, dominant personality on track, on time, and on topic every single weekday morning. She built relationships with guests, cultivated a loyal audience, and did it all with a grace that made it look easy — which is how you know she was genuinely excellent at it, because the things that look easiest require the most invisible skill.
And she was paid $500,000 a year. Her co-star made $20 million.
The ratio isn’t just a pay gap. It’s a statement about whose work is considered essential. The 40-to-1 gap between Qerim’s reported salary and Smith’s confirmed one says, in financial terms, what no one would say in plain language: that the host is a replaceable infrastructure element, and the personality is the irreplaceable product.
Whether that assessment was correct is now an open question. Shae Cornette is doing well, by all accounts. First Take has not collapsed. The show continues. But the ten years of brand-building that Qerim contributed, the audience relationships she developed, the daily stability she provided — none of that appeared on her contract offer. It appeared on his.
Qerim has not said this publicly. She hasn’t needed to. The numbers say it for her.
Molly Qerim: By the Numbers
Years at ESPN total (including first stint): Approximately 12 years (2006–2012 and 2015–2025) Years hosting First Take: 10 years (2015–2025) Reported annual salary at departure: ~$500,000 Stephen A. Smith’s annual salary: ~$20 million (per $105M multi-year deal) Days between SBJ leak and her last day: Less than 24 hours Days ESPN auditioned replacements: 30–45 Date Shae Cornette officially replaced her: Mid-October 2025 Date she announced Paramount+ role: January 2026 Date Smith gave most detailed public comments: February 13, 2026
The Bottom Line: What Actually Happened
The clearest account of what happened, assembled from everything publicly known:
Step 1. ESPN decided — at the executive level — that Qerim would not be part of the show’s future beyond the end of 2025. This decision was made regardless of any contract offer.
Step 2. Contract renewal discussions proceeded in bad faith, in the sense that the network was negotiating an offer it already knew would not be the outcome. The offer — which Qerim reportedly found insulting relative to her co-stars’ deals — was not a serious retention attempt.
Step 3. Qerim, who had real “issues” beyond just the salary (Smith’s February 13 confirmation), decided she was done. Whether those issues were workplace dynamics, the pay disparity, the treatment of her departure, friction with management, or some combination of all of these is not publicly known.
Step 4. The Sports Business Journal leak on September 15 forced the timeline. Rather than remain a visible lame duck for three months, Qerim resigned immediately — on her own terms, at a time of her choosing, rather than waiting for a managed exit she didn’t control.
Step 5. ESPN spent 30–45 days auditing replacements, selected Shae Cornette, and moved on.
Step 6. Qerim moved to Paramount+ boxing with Max Kellerman.
Step 7. Stephen A. Smith, five months later, confirmed there were issues without specifying them, said he missed her, and subtly left a door open.
The full story remains untold. The person who could tell it most completely is Molly Qerim herself. She hasn’t. Not yet.
Molly Qerim Rose is currently hosting Zuffa Boxing programming on Paramount+. Shae Cornette hosts First Take daily on ESPN. Stephen A. Smith’s comments about Qerim’s departure appeared on The White House with Michael Irvin*, now streaming on Netflix.*
