Cari Champion: ESPN made it obvious ‘I didn’t matter’ on ‘First Take’
Cari Champion felt stifled by her role as moderator on “First Take.”
Champion appeared on the “I am Athlete” podcast this week, and reminisced about the period where she was the moderator on the ESPN debate show with Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith. Champion said that she, Jemele Hill and a “bunch of blonde women” auditioned for the role.
(Dana Jacobson, who hosted the debates before “First Take” was a standalone show, and is not blonde, was the third finalist for the role, The Post was told.)
“I went into the audition knowing they already wanted a blonde, because this is Monday through Friday on a popular show; you’re not going to hire a black girl — especially not a brown-skinned black girl. You’re not hiring me! That’s how I went in,” Champion said.
She recalled believing that she nailed the audition but still not believing she’d land the role. Lo and behold, they asked her to be ready for football season.
Champion said that her previous thoughts on Bayless and Smith was that their debates were a lot of “bluster,” but she quickly learned that they were amplifying their actual opinions and gave them credit for their work ethic.
“They’re exactly who they are,” she said. “What comes with people who are really talented — I say this, no cap, super talented. They worked hard. They taught me work ethic. We worked 6-7 days a week. We’d cover the Super Bowl, take two days off, flying somewhere. {NBA] Finals. it was brutal, back and forth, flying across the country.
“They worked hard and they did the homework. They came prepared. No one was unprepared.”
But, she said, her opinions were not valued by the company.
“The problem was, for me as a black woman in that position, and at the time — you can do the research — no one was Monday through Friday on a popular two-hour TV show that was a black woman,” Champion said. “And they let me know I didn’t matter. Intentionally, unintentionally. It was obvious. ‘You don’t matter Just be happy that you’re here. Ask questions. Don’t talk. Be happy that you’re here.'”
Feeling like they don’t have a voice has been a point of tension amongst some of the hosts who have worked on “First Take” or FS1’s “Undisputed.” Jenny Taft, who hosted “Undisputed,” sparred with Bayless on-air a couple of times last year and at one point said she was allowed to have an “opinion” about Lincoln Riley, whose games at Oklahoma she covered as a sideline reporter.
Champion was hired to be a moderator — the role has been described as being modeled after Ernie Johnson on TNT’s “Inside the NBA”, or the conductor of an often-chaotic train.
It’s a job that brings heightened visibility but can in some ways be limiting as someone teeing up Bayless and Smith (and later Shannon Sharpe) to highlight their opinions. But that is the role.
While only women have hosted “First Take” and “Undisputed,” there are myriad male anchors in sports such as Johnson, Fox’s Curt Menefee and ESPN’s Rece Davis who have thrived in the role.
Ultimately, Champion used the role as a stepping stone to become a “SportsCenter” anchor. Joy Taylor, the first host of “Undisputed,” later became Colin Cowherd’s co-host — and shares her opinions in that role. Taft, Taylor’s replacement, is the top college football sideline reporter at Fox Sports and is also expected to be heavily featured in their World Cup coverage.