Stephen A. Smith is facing new pressure at ESPN after a report claimed the network told several well-known on-air names to end their deals with Papaya Gaming. This happened while Stephen A.
Smith’s own paid post with the same company was left untouched. The story came out on Wednesday through Front Office Sports, which said ESPN acted quickly because Papaya Gaming is now the target of a federal lawsuit in New York.
The lawsuit was filed by Skillz Platform Inc., which said Papaya Gaming used bots pretending to be real players. Skillz claimed these bots made human users lose money. Papaya Gaming denied the claim and filed a counterclaim, saying Skillz was the one struggling financially and trying to shift blame. Because of the legal case, ESPN did not want its talent involved with the company. That led to the quiet order to four different ESPN names who had posted about the mobile solitaire game.
Dan Orlovsky, Kendrick Perkins, Mina Kimes and Laura Rutledge asked to end Papaya ties
According to the Front Office Sports report released on Wednesday, ESPN told Dan Orlovsky, Kendrick Perkins, Mina Kimes and Laura Rutledge to cut ties with Papaya Gaming right away.All four had posted paid ads for Papaya’s solitaire app on social media after Stephen A. Smith promoted the same game five months earlier. Mina Kimes reacted first.
On X, she called her post “a colossal mess-up” and said she failed to check the company before promoting it. She also said she had not been paid yet, but if she ever received money, she would give it away.
After ESPN’s directive, Mina Kimes, Dan Orlovsky and Laura Rutledge deleted their posts. As of Wednesday night, Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins still had their Papaya posts on their pages.
When the story became public, Stephen A. Smith addressed it on his podcast earlier this week. He said, “My team is looking at the claims,” and he made it clear that he does not support any company involved in unfair or dishonest practices. ESPN chose not to comment on the matter.
The situation drew more attention after former ESPN host Michelle Beadle spoke about Stephen A. Smith on her “Beadle and Decker” show.She said she was tired of him avoiding consequences and added that people in sports media “need principles.”Michelle Beadle and Cody Decker lost their SiriusXM show back in June, one day after she criticized Stephen A. Smith on air.