Marcellus Wiley is at odds with Stephen A. Smith with regards to their mutual former partner, Max Kellerman.
Smith recently revealed on the “Joe Budden Podcast” that he had Kellerman kicked off “First Take” because “I didn’t like working with him” and implied that Kellerman’s lack of credentials as an athlete or journalist led viewers not to take his opinions seriously.
On his own podcast, “More to It with Marcellus Wiley,” the former ESPN and FS1 host took aim at Smith in a number of directions, including Smith’s assertion that Shannon Sharpe was “pushed off” FS1’s “Undisputed” and the general treatment of Kellerman.
“It’s hypocritical of Stephen A. to be sensitive to Shannon, and Shannon getting pushed out of FS1, and all that happened there, and not Max, when you did the same thing to Max,” Wiley said.
“Please do not tell me it’s different because Max is white. Please don’t say that. I know you’re not gonna go there.
“So what’s the difference? You pushed Max out. But then you’re like, ‘It’s Shannon’s story to tell, but it’s facts, he got pushed out.'”
Wiley was not buying that Smith fought for Kellerman to be taken off the show due to a fear of deteriorating ratings, which had not happened.
Instead, he believed that Kellerman was pushed out of “First Take” because he wouldn’t play the “role” Smith wanted of him.
Wiley also pointed out that not being an athlete or journalist didn’t prevent Smith from “begging” Kellerman to move from Los Angeles — where he hosted “SportsNation” with Wiley and Michelle Beadle — to New York to join “First Take” in 2016 after Skip Bayless left the program for FS1.
“Max is gone because he didn’t play his role. He didn’t get in where you wanted him to fit in,” Wiley said.
“And Max all of sudden, now, has to deal with the credential attacks. And that’s where I put my pads on … The truth is you cannot attack Max’s credentials.
“OK, Max ain’t a journalist or an athlete, well why the hell was I ear-hustling hearing you and them [the ESPN bosses] begging him to come to New York to do the show? Did Max all of a sudden stop playing football that day? When was Max ever an athlete? When was Max ever a traditional journalist?”
Wiley could not understand why Smith would seek to “discredit” Kellerman years later.
“Stephen A. gets a salute from all, especially me, because I respect his work ethic, but right now, and a lot of people are seeing it right before our very eyes, no love and no respect, for your ethics,” Wiley said.