Molly Qerim was looking out for her ESPN co-host, but Stephen A. Smith couldn’t get past the fact that she would interrupt him.
Smith took Casual Friday to heart this week, showing up to First Take in a tracksuit that he called his “pajamas” before sitting down on set with his cup of tea, an open laptop, and his cell phone on the table. In Smith’s defense, his travel schedule has been intense this week, as he has been bouncing back and forth between Oklahoma City, Indiana, and New York for NBA Countdown and First Take.
But while Smith might be able to get casual with his attire on First Take, he shouldn’t get careless with his laptop. And after Qerim noticed ESPN taking a camera angle from behind Smith Friday morning, she quickly urged him to close his laptop.
“Hold on,” Qerim interrupted while pointing her pen at Smith’s phone and laptop. But Smith was mid-thought and wasn’t initially interested in her reasoning for chiming in.
“I can’t, Molly, it’s on vibrate,” Smith said, assuming Qerim was telling him his phone was making noise. “Just relax.”
“No, it’s not that, just close it,” Qerim said as Smith stared back at her with a befuddled look. “Just trust me. Just close it all. Just put it all down.”
“That’s not gonna happen,” Smith insisted defiantly. “It’s not gonna happen.”
“Stephen A., they’re zooming in on it. You can see your text messages, everything, I’m trying to help you out,” Qerim said as Smith continued to protest. “Stephen A, your computer, it’s all on TV, just close it. I’m looking out for you, trying to be smooth. Jeez.”
The level of ego it takes for Smith to deny Qerim attempting to protect his emails and text messages from being aired on national TV is something most people can’t fathom. But that’s the ego needed to land a daily TV show with ESPN, a daily radio show with SiriusXM, a YouTube show that boasts more than one million subscribers, soap opera cameos and regular cable news appearances, all while teasing a run for president.
Smith never thanked Qerim for looking out, but he did eventually scold ESPN.
“They should know better than having my damn email on camera,” he said.