Actually, nobody expected it. Molly Qerim spent 10 years hosting ESPN’s First Take, steering debates between Stephen A. Smith and his co-hosts. Then suddenly, she walked away. Fans assumed she’d stay until the year’s end, but she wrapped up her 19-year run with the network just last weekend.
Her exit left viewers confused, and her colleagues stunned. Even Smith admitted he felt “uncomfortable” after she left.
Now, ESPN’s President of Content, Burke Magnus, has finally opened up. And the story isn’t messy. It’s business.
Molly Qerim’s Contract Talks That Never Found Middle Ground
Magnus revealed in an interview with The Athletic that ESPN tried to keep Qerim.
He siad “Molly Qerim is a wonderful person and an unbelievable teammate and colleague.” But renewal talks hit a wall. “We tried to have her do other things and to redo that agreement,” Magnus said. “It honestly became less about that, and more about, in my opinion, her wanting to do other and explore other things.”
Qerim, 41, had already decided to leave First Take by year’s end. ESPN hoped to move her into other projects, so she decided to make a clean break. Magnus explained, “Rather than going into a less defined situation, she wanted to try other things outside of ESPN.”
The move wasn’t hostile. It was about timing. Magnus admitted the network didn’t expect Qerim to step away so soon. “Ten years to do something like that is a long time,” he said. “She was going to come off First Take either way, and that was something we had already crossed that bridge.”
Smith, who worked beside her for a decade, didn’t hide his emotions. “To say that I’m quite sad about it is an understatement,” he said. “Molly is a friend. Molly is a co-worker. Molly is somebody that I’ve leaned on.”
Now ESPN faces its next challenge. The network will test replacements for 30 to 45 days before naming a new host. Whoever takes that seat will take on a big responsibility.
She joined ESPN in 2006 and became an interim host in 2015 when Cari Champion moved to SportsCenter. Months later, she got the job full-time and never looked back—until now.
This time, Qerim chose to look forward.
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