Malika Andrews might have the quickest fall from grace in the court of public opinion that has ever been seen.
After ESPN parted ways with Rachel Nichols last year, Malika Andrews took over and the move was largely celebrated by fans online.
A little over a year later and that fanfare has turned to hate.
We take you back to last week when Stephen A. Smith and Malika Andrews had a tense back and forth over the Ime Udoka scandal on “First Take.” Andrews called into the show after the Celtics held a press conference on Udoka and immediately went at Smith.
“If I could first start with this: Stephen A., with all due respect, this is not about pointing the finger. Stop,” Andrews said. “What became apparent to me in this press conference is that we do not have all the information here. It was frustrating, to me, that the Celtics declined to elaborate or give more specifics about what exactly the rule-breaking was that led us to this point.”
“The fact that it was able to go on all day. The fact that we are sitting here debating whether somebody else should be suspended or not. We are not here, Stephen A., to further blame women. That is not why we are here,” Andrews said.
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The 54-year-old Smith responded: “First of all. Let me be very clear. I don’t appreciate where you’re going with that. I’m not blaming anybody but Ime Udoka. He deserved to be fired if they were going to fire him. If you’re not going to fire him, then don’t fire him. My issue is all of this being publicized. The point that I’m trying to make…”
Andrews interrupted, and Smith cut her off.
“Excuse me,” he said. “I listened to you. You’re the one telling me to stop on my show. It ain’t happening. Okay? That’s number 1. Number 2, I’ve already said, he deserves to be fired, or to be there and for them to handle it privately. If you’re not going to handle it privately, to publicize it in that fashion, then obviously it provokes everybody wanting to know okay, who are the parties involved?”
Ever since then, Andrews has been getting dragged online, and that includes people trying to dig up her past and call for her to be fired.
Those fans are being called out for bullying.
