Molly Qerim comes up in a 95-minute Flagrant and Funny conversation that puts Jemele Hill, Cari Champion and Stephen A. Smith back in the same public frame. The first episode of the podcast has them revisiting their dispute over his comments about Black women in sports media, with Hill and Champion pressing Smith on what he said and what he did not do.
95 Minutes on Flagrant and Funny
The 95-minute conversation is the clearest sign that this is more than a quick apology segment or a drive-by response. Hill and Champion used the first episode to keep the focus on Smith’s public comments, while also widening the conversation to sports, politics and their own media careers.
That format matters because long-recorded podcast exchanges leave little room for shorthand. Smith had to answer in real time, and the episode gives listeners the full back-and-forth rather than a clipped social post or a passing TV hit.
Hill’s suspension
Hill brought up her suspension after calling Donald Trump a white supremacist, then said Smith never called her, never reached out and never said, “Hey sis, you good.” She added that Will Cain was the one who did reach out behind the scenes, which turns this from a broad media argument into a specific account of who showed up and who did not.
She also told Smith, “There were some comments you made to the Washington Post, and this is what Cari says about silence being support.” Hill then tied that to Smith’s comments about her criticism of Trump and, saying he sided with the company and told her she was stepping out of her lane by criticizing Trump and what it means to represent the brand.
Smith, Beadle and 2014
Last summer, Smith replaced Michelle Beadle and Cody Decker in the SiriusXM lineup, and last fall Champion posted an Instagram video questioning why he had resisted calling out Michelle Beadle for so long while being eager to call out Black women such as Jasmine Crockett. Champion also raised the Ray Rice comments that led to Smith’s suspension at in 2014, when she and Smith shared the First Take set together.
Smith answered Champion by saying she should be ashamed for her comments, then later took credit for Champion getting the First Take role and for her larger sports media career. Hill said it made her cringe when he took credit for building the careers of Black women like herself, Cari Champion, Monica McNutt and others, and she called that ego unbecoming.
The practical takeaway is simple: this episode does not settle the dispute, but it does document exactly where the lines are drawn. Hill says Smith never reached out when she needed support; Smith says she and Champion should have contacted him directly. Part two is already part of the setup, and the unfinished business is whether he answers the point Hill put directly to him after saying he never called.
