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Stephen A. Smith welcomed Skip Bayless back to *First Take* after a decade apart. Smith believes he owes Bayless a favor, despite Bayless's controversial past and recent struggles in media.
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Credit: ESPN
Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless picked up where they left off a decade ago when Bayless made his return toĀ First Takeon Friday.
In many ways, Stephen A. Smith has given Skip Bayless a lifeline to what has been a dying media career. After several years at FS1 across from Shannon Sharpe onĀ Undisputed, Bayless drove his partner away. And in many ways, Sharpe outshined Bayless afterĀ Undisputedās demise⦠at least until he ran into his own personal problems that led to his own ESPN departure.
For his part, Skip Bayless has had to deal with accusations of impropriety of his own during his time at FS1, although the lawsuit filed by a former hairstylist with allegations against Bayless and others was ultimately settled. Bayless had his own fledgling podcast and had been making appearances with Gilbert Arenas before making his sudden ESPN return. But he was welcomed back with open arms by Smith andĀ First Take. And on his SiriusXMĀ Straight Shootershow, Stephen A. Smith explained why he felt he owed Skip Bayless the favor.
āIt doesnāt matter what has happened in my career onĀ First Takeon ESPN, the fact is it wouldnāt have happened without his support. Skip was fighting all those years, those couple of years I was gone, it was Skip that was fighting for me to be back. And when I got back and was restricted to radio by ESPN, it was Skip that was fighting to have me onĀ First Take. And when we first started off it was on Wednesdays and I was limited to the first segment of hour number two ofĀ on Wednesdays. And it was that that ultimately materialized into me coming on for the whole show every Wednesday and thereafter ultimately he fought for me to be on permanently,ā Smith said.
Stephen A. Smith welcomed Skip Bayless back because he felt he owed him a favor, despite Bayless's controversial history.
Before returning to ESPN, Skip Bayless faced challenges at FS1, including the departure of his co-host Shannon Sharpe and accusations of impropriety.
Skip Bayless dealt with accusations of impropriety and a settled lawsuit filed by a former hairstylist during his time at FS1.
Shannon Sharpe's departure from *Undisputed* left Skip Bayless with a diminished media presence, as Sharpe had outshined him during their partnership.

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āI thought that it was only right that now that Iām blessed and fortunate enough to be in the position that Iām in that I took the opportunity to show my appreciation while also making great television at the same time by reminding everybody where it all started. Thereās a lot of things been mentioned and a lot of opportunities that have come a lot of peopleās way courtesy ofĀ First Take but it didnāt start with me. It started with Skip Bayless⦠I wanted to remind everybody that when you see me bringing on people, itās an extension of what Skip started,ā Smith added.
Judging by the appearance and the reaction, itās likely not going to be the last time we see Bayless onĀ First Take. Smith has built First Take with a rotating crew of analysts featuring everyone from Chris Russo to Chris Canty to Ryan Clark to Cam Newton. Itās hard to not see Bayless becoming a featured weekly attraction, especially once we get to the fall and the show does their required Dallas Cowboys talk during NFL season.
Even though it was billed as a one-time appearance, itās clear just how much Smith and Bayless mean to each other and the chemistry they have together is unmatched amongst all the individuals ESPN has tried to replace Bayless with over the last decade⦠for better or for worse when it comes to the overall state of the industry.
The post Stephen A. Smith explains why he welcomed Skip Bayless back to āFirst Takeā appeared first on Awful Announcing.