Stephen A Smith conducting interview with headset onStephen A Smith (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
One former prominent member of ESPN now wants his former employer to part ways with Stephen A Smith.

Former SportsCenter host Keith Olbermann took to X, formerly Twitter, to state why Stephen A Smith needs to either lose his job or be silenced by the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

“WHY ESPN MUST EITHER SILENCE OR FIRE STEPHEN A. SMITH: Its longstanding policy – no, you can’t be a sportscaster on one station and an advocate for a presidential candidate on another station – is right. I know: I helped to author it because the day when you (or I) could straddle both worlds is long gone,” Olbermann wrote.

“So why is today’s ESPN letting Smith do it? Why is he campaigning for Trump on Fox News? ESPN must make him choose advocating for a despot or keeping his job saying nothing particularly relevant about sports – not both. And I’d insist on the same either/of if he were campaigning for Biden.”

Keith Olbermann stated that ESPN should make him choose between advocating for a despot or keeping his job saying nothing particularly relevant about sports.

Keith Olbermann’s anger stems from the First Take host sparking controversy last week when he defended Donald Trump by saying Black Americans could relate to him “being discriminated against.” His comments were stated during an interview on Fox News’ The Sean Hannity Show.

It was a shocking turn of events for Stephen A Smith, an outspoken Democratic voter who had already announced his support for President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election.

Stephen A Smith Apologizes For What He Said On Fox News About Donald Trump

Stephen A. Smith (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)

The subject of Donald Trump and his “hush money” criminal trial in New York came up, and Stephen A. Smith appeared on Hannity and stated that Black people should relate to what he is going through.

“As much as people may have been abhorred by Donald Trump’s statement weeks ago talking about how Black folks,” he said on Hannity, “he’s hearing that Black folks find him relatable because of what he is going through is similar to what Black Americans have gone through, he wasn’t lying. He was telling the truth.”

On Monday, the First Take host decided all of the backlash was too much, and he issued a formal apology on his YouTube channel, taking accountability for seemingly supporting Trump for President on behalf of Black folks.

“I’m fully aware that I have been in the news the last few days. Paraded all over social media as well after comments I made on Fox News’ Hannity last week…A lot of folks in Black America seem pretty pissed at me right now,” he began. “Quite a few folks were offended as my words were interpreted as associating support for Trump by the Black community with all the legal issues he’s facing. For that, I sincerely apologize. I’m stating right here for the record that I was taken out of context.”

Smith then clarified what he was trying to say during his Fox News interview. Smith said he has been following the news from major newspapers and that he has seen reports suggesting that Black Americans are beginning to back Trump significantly.

He said he was only repeating information that had already been published by respectable American media outlets like Axios, the New York Times, and others.