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Stephen A. Smith says he’s barely keeping a lid on his anger after fellow ESPN commentator Ryan Clark was fired by the network during a live broadcast.
“It’s a rough day—rough day to say the least—working at ESPN,” Smith said in a YouTube video on his “honest thoughts” about Clark’s firing.
Clark was told that he was being let go during Monday’s broadcast of NFL Live, sources told The Athletic. The 46-year-old anchor subsequently did not finish the program.
Smith said that he made it “very, very clear” to his “bosses” that he was unhappy about Clark’s firing.
Describing Clark as “arguably the best NFL analyst in America,” as well as “a friend and a brother,” Smith said he had been fighting the urge to lash out at people spreading “narratives” about the former Pittsburgh Steelers safety.
“Over the last few hours, I had to really, really refrain—damn, they got blisters on my tongue and my fingers from biting my tongue and biting my fingers from refraining from going after folks when I saw how people were talking about him,” the 58-year-old host said. “When I saw how people were talking about him, I was like, they don’t know him at all.”
He later added, “I just wish that I could have been in enough of an influential or powerful position to prevent his exit from happening,” while conceding, “Business is business.”
ESPN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sources told The Athletic that ESPN had planned to fire Clark on Tuesday, but chose to inform him during Monday’s live broadcast out of fear that news of his departure would leak and that he would learn about it online.
Clark joined ESPN as an analyst in March 2015 and was making more than $2 million a year, according to sources.
His job was allegedly in jeopardy since February’s Super Bowl, and ESPN executives had soured on him after incidents with colleague Peter Schrager, both on and off the air.
In September 2025, Clark and Schrager had a viral on-air spat on ESPN’s Get Up, after Schrager defended Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Clark told his colleague while pointing a finger, “We shouldn’t do this on TV, so I apologize if people think this is rude: that’s the non-player in you.”
Schrager responded by asking Clark not to “belittle” him to allow him to voice other perspectives. Clark said in turn, “Peter, what I need for you to do is not get mad and let me finish.”
Clark, who won a “Sports Emmy for Outstanding Personality/Studio Analyst” in 2023, later posted an apology on X, writing, “Today, I had an interaction with my colleague @PSchrags both on and off the air that I regret. I have apologized to Peter and taken accountability with ESPN leadership.”
Smith defended Clark’s personality in his video, saying, “There’s nothing that he’d say on social media or on television that he wouldn’t tell you to your face if that’s how he felt.”
“Does that mean he was perfect? No. Does that mean he was right all the time? No,” Smith continued. “But he was conscientious, and he was thoughtful. And he’s not somebody that I just loved working with; he’s somebody that I love, period.”
ESPN carried out further layoffs on Tuesday as a part of broader cuts at Disney, ESPN’s parent company, firing baseball commentator Karl Ravech, NFL insider Tom Pelissero, and former NFL star Cam Newton, according to The Athletic.
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