The media world got a pretty unexpected beef this week when Skip Bayless more or less accused Stephen A. Smith of stabbing him in the back with his story of how he joined First Take. The gist: Smith went onto JJ Redick’s podcast and explained that Bayless begged him to join the show in an attempt to get the ratings up, which led to the show turning into what it is now.
Bayless responded to this on his podcast by calling it “recklessly inaccurate” and a “shocking fabrication.”
“With Stephen A as my partner, First Take would never touch the NFL Monday ratings that it hit in 2011 pre-Stephen A,” he said. “And I had taken First Take as far as I could? Seriously? I was just getting started, the rocket had just launched the year before in 2011. Stephen A, how dare you?”
Both guys are very much trained in the art of arguing others, but in the aftermath, Smith thought the best move was to try and diffuse the situation and take it out of the public eye. While he stressed he did not lie, Smith tweeted out that this is a misunderstanding and that he will address the matter with Bayless privately going forward.
My only comments on this matter. pic.twitter.com/UXA1OBKYhx
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 16, 2022
While both of these guys are quite good at dragging things out in an effort to win arguments, this one does seem pretty done and dusted.
