Landon Buford
It has been more than five years since Cari Champion hosted her latest ESPN First Take and several years since she ultimately left ESPN. However, in one of the most recent episodes of the I AM ATHLETE, she shared what it was like at the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
During the interview, Champion shared that she was thankful for the opportunity to work with Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless, she had no part in it. She said that she was given the feeling that she should be happy to be there and not be creative.
“The problem was, for me as a black woman in that position, and at the time, nobody was Monday through Friday on a popular two-hour TV show that was a black woman, and they let me know I didn’t matter. Intentionally, unintentionally, it was obvious. It was like, ‘You don’t matter, just be happy that you’re here.”
The mentality could certainly explain why she left the show less than three years into the role if she felt this way.
Since leaving ESPN Champion had a show on Vice TV with friend and colleague called “Disruptors with Jemele Hill and Cari Champion.” The two were also supposed to partner again with a show on CNN Plus, but that wasn’t meant to be after CNN had to cancel their subscription after CNN’s parent company WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros earlier this year.
