“How could my brother turn on me like that” Skip Bayless fires shots after BETRAYAL from Stephen A. Smith upon SHAMELESS lie


“How could my brother turn on me like that” Skip Bayless fires shots after BETRAYAL from Stephen A. Smith upon SHAMELESS lie

Skip Bayless lashed out at Stephen A Smith

ESPN’s First Take has been running for around 15 years now and has been a very successful show on Sports Analysis, bringing out the best talking points from the best leagues in the world.. But former host Skip Bayless and current host Stephen A. Smith are in a tug of war over its success.

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ESPN came up with the idea of presenting sports analysis differently and used experts to debate on given data or incidents. They named the Show First Take and began telecasting the interesting presentation on 7th May 2007 with Skip Bayless and Jay Crowford. Dana Jacobson was also regular on the show, presenting data to the guests and hosts of the show. Skip left the show after a decade of service, while Stephen A Smith, co-host at that time continued with the show. In a recent interview on JJ Redick’s Old man and Three show, Smith narrated the story of him joining the popular show, which didn’t go well with 70 years old Skip. He issued a response on his podcast his version of how Smith came aboard ESPN’s First Take back in 2012. 

As per Bayless, the story told by Stephen A Smith was “recklessly inaccurate” and a “shocking fabrication.” and further dramatically expressed his shock. Interestingly both story versions are poles apart and many outsiders had little fun over the same.

Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith have different views on the First Take show’s success and introduction of later to the show

Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith on First Take Show - 2015 episode
Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith on First Take Show – 2015 episode

Stephen A Smith told on the show that Skip Bayless was hosting the show right from the start. But after 5 years of hosting, the numbers were not pleasing, and Skip asked Stephen for his help to save the show. 54-years old Smith took a new challenge and joined hands with Bayless at the show, and helped it to reach new highs over the period.

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Skip was surprised by the claims that thrashed Smith’s claims. He said, “I thought, ‘How could my brother Stephen A. turn on me like that?’ On me? Seriously, Stephen A. was suggesting that he saved and then made First Take. How can you save and make a show that was already as big a billion-to-one success story as ESPN had ever seen? The ratings and the revenues were impossibly great when Stephen A. joined me in 2012.”

Experienced analyst and TV Personality Bayless argued that current First Take would never come close to matching the type of ratings the show had before Smith’s arrival. This point by Skip is very contradictory to the very base of Smith’s story.

According to Stephen A., Skip approached him in the parking lot of the ESPN campus in Bristol, (where the show was first shot) about joining First Take to take the show as far as it could go. In Smith’s narration, he used the “poor numbers” and “taking show further” are two base points that initiated his journey with the show.

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Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith
Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith

Smith earlier said on Redick’s show, “He (Skip) says, ‘I know you’ve got your plans. You love the NBA. You love being out on the road. You love being in the locker room. But I need you. I’ve done all that I could to take this as far as it can go. I need you, please. Just give me three years. I think we’ll knock it out of the park,’”

Now upon Skip’s firing, Smith responded on Twitter, writing that he “didn’t lie about a damn thing. This is nothing more than a misunderstand. As I’ve stated on MANY occasions, Skip Bayless made First Take. He carried it on his back for years.”

There have been nearly 1000 editions of the First Take Show, with skip hosting 203 episodes In nearly 10 years and Stephen A Smith hosting 600+ versions of the same in an equivalent period. Though Stephen A Smith has shown some “brotherly” behavior towards Skip, we will have to wait to see and get to know the original story of “First Take Show”.

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