What happened to ESPN’s Molly Qerim? Stephen A. Smith ‘not happy’ how things went down.

It’s been a bizarre 24 hours for ESPN and First Take hosts Molly Qerim and Stephen A. Smith.

On Monday, Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp reported Qerim, who has hosted First Take for a decade, would be leaving the network at the end of the year after declining a contract extension.

Qerim later confirmed the news in an Instagram post, noting the news “came out earlier than I intended, and not in the way I hoped.” But instead of sticking with First Take and offering her goodbyes on the air, she was a no-show on Tuesday. Instead, Smith broke the news to viewers.

“She’s been an enormous part of our success for a decade. Not only did she keep me and many others in line, she did it with dignity, kindness and class, to say the least,” Smith said. “I personally am grateful to her for her friendship. I will miss spending every weekday morning with her right by my side.”

“We respect Molly’s decision, wish her the best in the future, and thank her for her extraordinary daily commitment to sports fans and ESPN,” Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of content, said in a statement.

These days, Smith appears on multiple outlets daily, and on his SiriusXM show later in the day he went off on several tangents involving contract negotiations that appeared to be linked to his former co-host. But the former Inquirer columnist and reporter repeated his remarks weren’t specifically about Qerim.

“I’m not talking about Molly here. But I’m watching, and I’ve been watching over the last several years, people in this business fall by the wayside. Because we forget that all of us ultimately answer to someone,” Smith said. “We don’t get to define our own value. We don’t get to define our own worth … unless you have the leverage to do it. Because business is all about leverage.”

Smith said Qerim’s departure was “a shock” and wasn’t aware she was considering leaving First Take.

“I don’t like it. I’m not happy about it because I appreciate her and what she has meant to me, what she has meant to the show, what she has meant to the network, what she has meant to the business,“ Smith said. ”But we all make decisions that we deem to be in our best interest for whatever reason. And that story is for her to tell.”

Qerim was expected to join Smith on the road again this fall for First Take’s annual tour of historically Black colleges and universities. Among the scheduled stops is Delaware State University on Oct. 29, where former Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson is in his first season as the Hornets’ head coach.

Smith didn’t mention Qerim at the start of Wednesday’s show, but did note he was “sitting in the host chair” and introduced some new rules, including “No cussing” and “No rude reactions.”