'I'M SORRY'
‘I’m not perfect,’ admits Stephen A. Smith after ESPN star called out by colleague for social media error live on air
Smith was puzzled at first when he was called out for the error
STEPHEN A. Smith got called out on First Take by an ESPN colleague for a mistake he made on social media.
The live TV sequence occurred on Thursday's edition of First Take.
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It was revealed on Wednesday that First Take enjoyed its 21st straight month of year-over-year growth in viewership.
First Take host Molly Qerim brought up the record-breaking viewing figures on Thursday as Smith gave credit to his ESPN teammates.
But NBA analyst Jay Williams made sure to mention that Stephen A. made a social media mistake on Wednesday when he thanked and tagged numerous ESPN stars about the accomplishment on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Smith tagged the wrong Jay Williams on X.
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"You tagged an old white guy," Williams said to Stephen A.
"That wasn't even me."
Smith was puzzled at first and shared his line of thinking when attempted to tag the right profile.
"It had the blue check mark," he said.
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"I thought it was you."
The 56-year-old's response caused Williams to laugh.
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But Stephen A. admitted his error, telling Williams, "I'm sorry Jay.
"I didn't mean to make that mistake.
"I'm not perfect."
Williams forgave Smith and appeared to say "I got love for you" to the 56-year-old.
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In the social media post, along with Williams, Stephen A. thanked Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, Monica McNutt, Shannon Sharpe, Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears, Dan Orlovsky, Kimberley A. Martin, Mina Kimes, Kendrick Perkins, and "everybody in between."
"Thanks to all of y'all who continue to help us remain number one," he said, adding, "If it were not for y'all, there would be no us."
'You're seeing it reversed'
MOLLY Qerim was forced to cut off a Stephen A. Smith rant on First Take and spare his blushes.
Appearing virtually, Smith began to scold Chris "Mad Dog" Russo for apparently sitting in his seat in studio.
"Now I'm here in South Beach," Smith said, "So I never usually have a frown on my face.
"But what the hell are those seating arrangements?
"Why are you Tim Legler not sitting in my chair? Why is that man, Mad Dog Russo, in my chair?!"
But Qerim intervened and said, "You're seeing it reversed."
Smith realized his error and was left red-faced.
"The video is reversed," backtracked a red-faced Smith, "They promised me they would fix that."
In April, First Take averaged 482,000 viewers, a jump of 4,000 from March, per Wednesday's press release.
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It was a slight decrease from February's 504,000 viewer number.
But First Take's April figures were a 12 percent jump from the same month in 2023.