A phone call between two of ESPN’s top personalities, Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith, exploded into a heated argument as the pair tried to hash out their differences, a report claims.
The argument got heated enough for McAfee to call Smith a “motherfucker,” according to the New York Post.
Apparently, the argument arose over Smith’s plans for a new show being produced by his company, Mr. SAS Productions, that will air on ESPN.
The argument was so pronounced that Smith reportedly banned McAfee from his ESPN First Take show, where McAfee had been appearing once weekly during the NFL season.
The Post, though, says that after asking the pair about the argument, both denied there was any ban on McAfee’s First Take spots.
Stephen A. Smith attends SiriusXM At Super Bowl LVII on February 09, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
McAfee also insisted he has “nothing but love” for Smith and added, “I think I’m still welcome on ‘First Take’? I was scheduled through football season to join on Tuesdays, hopefully next year that’ll happen as well.”
Smith was even more effusive, calling McAfee a “winner” and added that “the notion that he’d be banned from ‘First Take’ is B.S.”
Still, Smith did diss McAfee to a degree when he said that McAfee is not very smart in politics and seemed to hint that McAfee didn’t have to work as hard as Smith because Smith is black and McAfee is white.
In February, on Barstool’s “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast, Smith said, “I love Pat McAfee, love him to death. I love his swag; I love the fact that he’s an honest brother. He don’t give a shit … That’s my kind of dude.”
Pat McAfee attends SiriusXM’s “Busted Open,” celebrating its 10th Anniversary In New York City on the eve of WrestleMania 35 on April 6, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
But then he added, “That works for me. Now, is he as polished politically as me? Nope, because he has no desire to be number one. And number two, if we’re being honest, he’s white, and I’m black; he doesn’t have to be. I had to be. So I get all that, and I’m not knocking him for it.”
Smith later tried to say that he was really talking about the black/white divide among all ESPN’s on-air commentators, and not just he and McAfee.
For his part, McAfee said that Smith’s podcast comments “did not bother me at all.”
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