Stephen A. Smith Dismisses Reports He’s Mad About Being Paid Less Than New ESPN Colleague Pat McAfee: ‘I Don’t Give a Damn’

Stephen A. Smith responded to speculation that ESPN newcomer Pat McAfee secured a bigger salary with the network than he did.

The sports commentator has been with ESPN for twenty years and took time out of his Saturday podcast episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, to put some rumors to rest.

McAfee, who is bringing his largely successful YouTube show to the network, has been rumored to have secured a five year, $85 million dollar deal, per The New York Post.

According to Awful Announcing, the deal has led to some criticism as Disney, ESPN’s parent company, is expected to slash 7,000 jobs in the coming months.

Other fans are questioning why other top ESPN talent wouldn’t be offered something similar, speculating if age or demographics played a role.

“The reason why people were clamoring for me to chime in about him is because you have so many people that are looking at what he’s getting paid. It’s no secret that even though you don’t know the numbers that I make, even though I’m sure a lot of you think you know, it’s clearly more than I’m making,” Smith said.

“‘Steven A. what do you have to say about that?’ Two things. Number one, I don’t give a damn. He negotiated his deal a few weeks ago. I negotiated my deal a few years ago,” Smith explained. “Climate is different. Market is different. Different things are happening. The situation is not the same.”

Smith noted that that was only one reason why the deals were incomparable.

“Now I know there are those of you that’ll sit up there and say, ‘That’s BS.’ Disney announced months ago it’s laying off 7,000 people. It’s trying to make up for 5.5 billion in losses because of the pandemic where parks were closed and movie theaters were closed and revenue was compromised, and stuff like that. And anybody under the Disney umbrella has to pay a price — ‘How could they go and they can make a deal like this,'” Smith said.

“How many times have I told y’all — I’m a big boy. I’ve been to hell and back. This does not faze me at all for several reasons. Number one, Pat McAfee deserves it. You looking for some hater-ade here? Wrong place,” he added.

Watch above via The Stephen A. Smith Show.

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