"I might be one of them" - Stephen A. Smith reveals brutal reality of layoffs in 2023

Stephen A. Smith's job might be in danger, and the ESPN anchor knows it. As part of some planned layoffs by parent company Disney, he fears that his days with the company are numbered.

During his podcast "K[no]w Mercy," Smith discussed the possibility of being a victim of the layoffs.

"Have you all been paying attention to the business landscape? Disney itself announced that over 7,000 employees are going to be let go,” Smith said. “ESPN is under the Disney umbrella. They’re going to have cuts coming. Hell, for all I know, I might be one of them. Now, I doubt that. But it’s possible. No one knows."

Previous layoffs by ESPN have been extremely hurtful for its employees, with many famous faces being let go. In 2015, the company let go of 300 employees. In 2017, former president John Skipper let go of 100 anchors. Then, in 2021, as the pandemic ravaged the world, president Jimmy Pitaro cut 300 jobs.

Could Stephen A. Smith return to work with Skip Bayless?

This is not happening anytime soon, as he said in an interview months ago. However, he would be up for one final show with his long-time partner, but nothing more.

"If you talk about one final day with Skip Bayless, I'd welcome that any day of the week, just to pay homage to what he's done for me and to beat him again. I've always beaten him. I've always beaten him. I'll tell you, he never beat me in a debate. But still and all, but it would be fun, one final day, one final show, or something like that. But that's all. I mean, other than that, I'm good."

Stephen A. Smith is one of the biggest sports personalities on television. He is also the biggest Dallas Cowboys troll imaginable. Every year, the ESPN analyst finds a new way to taunt Cowboys fans when the team gets eliminated from the playoffs, with special videos laughing at the team criticizing their results.

If he does indeed get laid off by ESPN, it will be the end of an era. He joined the First Take team officially on April 30, 2012.