Stephen A. Smith Addresses Max Kellerman, Marcellus Wiley’s Remarks About ‘First Take’ Split

In an unscripted and unusually pointed moment on Straight Shooter With Stephen A., Stephen A. Smith carved out time to respond directly to Max Kellerman’s recent remarks on The Bill Simmons Podcast, where Kellerman suggested that Smith had been uneasy debating him during their shared run on ESPN’s First Take.

Smith, who typically avoids revisiting the details of Kellerman’s 2021 departure, made clear that he’s ready—if pushed—to pull back the curtain on what he insists the public still doesn’t know. He opened with a cryptic but unmistakable warning:

“We’re talking about First Take though,” Smith said of Kellerman’s comments. “And he took it someplace that all I want to say is are you really sure you want to go there? See, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes. Are you sure you want to go there? Because I’m not unless you take me there.”

From there, Smith shifted into a rarely shared recounting of the dissolution of their on-air partnership. He acknowledged that while he and Kellerman spent half a decade cohosting First Take, he felt the chemistry had deteriorated. The issue, he insisted, had nothing to do with personal animosity—only professional incompatibility, something he says he brought to ESPN executives long before Kellerman’s exit.

“We worked for 5 years together, 2016 to 2021. And yes, I didn’t think we worked [well] together any longer. I did not want to do a debate show with Max Kellerman. What I keep trying to explain to all of y’all is that under no circumstances do I dislike or hate this dude. This ain’t some Stephen A. and Michelle Beadle thing going on where she was coming at me like that or me going at [Jason Whitlock]. This is not that.”

Smith explained that First Take carried a distinct identity—one forged during his fiery decade with Skip Bayless—and that he felt Kellerman’s style, while sharp, simply didn’t match the tone audiences expected from the franchise.

“There was an audience that was accustomed to Skip Baylor being diametrically different for a decade. And when Max came on the show, the top ratings were handed to us because of what Skip and I were doing. So, the audience has an expectation for that show. That show was not Get Up. That show was not PTI. That show was not Around the Horn. That show was not SportsCenter. That show came with an expectation that the audience was looking for us to live up to.”

The conversation turned more pointed when Smith addressed Marcellus Wiley, who recently accused him of orchestrating Kellerman’s removal out of insecurity. Smith rejected that outright, arguing that Wiley’s stance is skewed by his personal loyalty to Kellerman.

“Oh, by the way, Marcellus, speaking about what you didn’t like. Respectfully, let me tell you what I don’t like about you since you are also my former colleague at ESPN. I didn’t say I don’t like you. I said, let me tell you what I don’t like about you. Meaning what you’re doing or what you’ve done. Bro, you’ve never called me once to ask me what happened. Your entire perspective is from Max, who is one of, if not your best friend on the planet.

“You ain’t never asked me. I ain’t never get a call from you saying, ‘What happened?’ When you and Max had your show together, I appeared on it anytime y’all asked. You knew me well enough where if you wanted an answer as to what happened, you know I would have told you. You’ve never once asked me. Not one time. You have a slanted perspective, which is cool. Say so. Tell the world you ain’t interested in hearing what nobody else says. All you care about is what that side says. And I’m good. You don’t do that.”

Wiley also suggested that Smith was rattled by Kellerman’s intellect—an assertion Smith brushed off as baseless, noting that their radio pairing was an entirely different format and responsibility.

“You’re saying you know how I feel. No, you don’t. You have no clue. Number one, ’cause you never asked. Number two, ’cause I ain’t you and you ain’t me. And number three, because it was a debate show, not a radio show. There was no mandate or obligation that you had to have a diametrically opposed position from Max as your counterpart doing radio.

“Bro, if you going to talk to people about the industry, talk to them about the industry. You had a radio show. You did not have a debate show. So, the obligations and the responsibilities that came along with it are entirely different.”

Watch Stephen A. Smith’s response to Max Kellerman below.