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Cam Newton was let go by ESPN in the company’s latest round of layoffs, and Rob Parker wonders if his recent Jason Whitlock interview was the motive.
Newton signed a multi-year contract with ESPN last August, and last football season, he became one of the most prominent NFL analysts featured on First Take. But that didn’t stop ESPN from making Newton one of the more surprising names in this latest round of layoffs. And according to Fox Sports Radio host Rob Parker, it was Newton’s interview with Stephen A. Smith’s arch-nemesis, Jason Whitlock, that may have sealed his fate.
In March, Newton welcomed Whitlock onto his 4th & 1 YouTube channel for a lengthy interview, with much of the conversation centering around Smith. Shortly after the interview, Smith took issue with Newton for not challenging Whitlock, but he insisted the former Panthers quarterback wouldn’t be booted from First Take after platforming one of his biggest enemies in media. Parker, however, doesn’t seem sure.
“I thought it was very weird knowing the history between Jason Whitlock and Stephen A. And Jason Whitlock will just attack him every freaking day, every day,” Parker said on his Fox Sports Radio show Tuesday night. “Every video was about Stephen A.; it was really, really bad. He said some crazy stuff that Cam just sat there.”
Parker said the biggest point of contention for him would have been when Whitlock made an analogy which facetiously implied he thought Smith was gay because he was caught playing solitaire at an NBA Finals game in 2025.
“I was shocked that that went unchecked,” Parker said of Whitlock’s comment. “I agree with Steve, and I believe him, he can’t say who’s hired and fired…but I would have had a hard time working with Cam, me personally, after that performance with Jason Whitlock.”
“The idea that you would even entertain Jason is something that you would have to really think about,” Parker added. “You know the beef between Jason and Stephen A., and yet you still have him on. It’s personal, it’s not about journalism, it’s personal.”
Five years ago, ESPN gave Smith the power to boot Max Kellerman from First Take in favor of a rotating cast of analysts and debate partners. But in recent years, ESPN stripped Smith of having Michael Irvin, Shannon Sharpe, Molly Qerim, Cam Newton and Ryan Clark on First Take. Smith has insisted he would have liked to keep all of them, but claims those decisions were out of his control. Although Parker seems to wonder whether Smith had more control over the Cam Newton decision than he is letting on.
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