Ex-ESPN star explains why Molly Qerim got dumped by 'First Take' in such ugly fashion

Molly Qerim left ESPN and First Take back in September and has barely been heard from since while being replaced on the show next to Stephen A. Smith. A former ESPN star explains what happened.

The 41-year-old Qerim abruptly quit the show and left an emotional note upset she couldn’t break the news herself.

“After much reflection, I’ve decided it’s time to close this incredible chapter and step away from First Take,” Qerim wrote on Instagram. “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.”

Stephen A. Smith, Molly Qerim, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee — It didn’t appear too long ago that things on the outside with Smith and Qerim looked fine. | Molly Qerim/Instagram

It was reported Qerim and ESPN were way off on her new contract negotiations and she considered it a slap in the face and quit.

Since then, she had one gig with another head-turning fit before she’s gone off into the abyss and hasn’t been heard from lately.

Qerim and her fits are missed from “First Take”. | Molly Qerim/Instagram

Now, a staple at ESPN from 2012-2023 in Pablo Torre is weighing in while on The Joe Budden podcast.

He said that Qerim was expendable in the eyes of co-host Smith because he is the center of the ESPN ”solar system,” as he described, and him and his $100-million-plus contract make everyone else replaceable because the show can’t run without him.

“He staffs the show, he picks the players on the team, he is the star of it, he is... that's his. So I think what's frustrating for anybody who worked at ESPN and sort of felt like, ‘I'm on the team too.’ It’s that there's a pretty brutal math problem that I think Stephen A. is happy to do, in which he's like ‘We can find someone to play that role.’ And that sucks, I like Molly a lot, that sucks.”

Stephen A. Smith clearly has the biggest voice at ESPN. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Qerim’s replacement and former SportsCenter anchor Shae Cornette has filled in nicely for Qerim, but she certainly had the most awkward intro on Day 1 from Smith.

Qerim is talented enough to land on her feet somewhere, but as Torre said, “it sucks” as a fan of the show that it went that direction after a decade of Qerim on the show.

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