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Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith's massive contracts are raising eyebrows behind the scenes at Disney as the company issues widespread layoffs. In the wake of the latest round of layoffs at the Walt Disney Company in which hundreds of employees received pink slips across multiple divisions, a pair of Ursula-like villains have emerged—at least inside the Burbank-headquartered Mouse House.
Commentators and sports analysts Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee — the former of whom recently signed a five-year $100 million contract while the latter is reportedly close to signing a deal worth more than $60 million a year — are catching a huge amount of blame for hoovering up all of the resources at ESPN and ABC at a moment of extreme austerity across the company.
“It’s crazy what’s going on at ESPN,” says a knowledgeable ABC source. “[ESPN chair] Jimmy [Pitaro] put all of his eggs in two baskets, and now every cut seems to be related to these salaries.”
Those laid off include on-air talent Ryan Clark, Karl Ravech, Tom Pelissero and contributors Cam Newton, Charles Davis and Bart Scott. Both McAfee and Smith addressed the layoffs, and at least McAfee acknowledged the rumors that their big paydays are indirectly responsible for some of the bloodletting.
“Besides the fact that you’re getting $100 million, they’re taking everybody off the network. Did they keep anybody? Or is everybody fired to pay you? I’m trying to figure that out,” said former NFL player JJ Watt, who was a guest on McAfee’s show on Tuesday. Watt appeared to be kidding but in some people’s estimation the future first-ballot hall of famer was saying the silent part out loud.
“That is the narrative, and I’m certainly taking it on the shins. The boys and I are very proud of the work that we have done,” McAfee responded, smiling. He continued: “We hate any time this happens. Obviously, this is terrible. We don’t like that. But we are very honored that we are still partnered with ESPN and Disney for the good of sport and the future. I hate this.”
Meanwhile, Smith raised eyebrows within the company when he took to Instagram to lament Clark’s exit.
A Disney source noted that the $60 million annual figure surrounding McAfee’s deal needs to account for the fact that ESPN licenses McAfee’s show which comes fully produced with a robust staff.
The source also noted that Smith and McAfee are investments with proven track records not dissimilar to the way the network invests in rights to Major League Baseball or the National Football League.
Regardless, one ABC unit that has already been rocked by the network’s austerity measures is the morning talk show, “The View.”
And a bad situation is about to get worse.
Sources tell Page Six Hollywood the most recent season, which began in September 2025 saw several of the hosts taking pay cuts. Whoopi Goldberg, the highest paid of the group, is still making a salary in the mid-seven figures. But her fellow host Alyssa Farah, who is said to be making in the mid-six figures, asked for a big raise and was denied. Even more telling, the panel’s wardrobe budget was slashed.
“They’re all mad because they were all wearing really expensive designer clothes, and now it’s the same budget of a Wendy Williams-type show versus a marquee daytime show,” says one source familiar with the drastic belt-tightening. “They keep downsizing and downsizing and downsizing.”
As the new season ramps up for its September launch, even more trims are expected. But some wonder how much more the show can endure. It has already moved from a beautiful Thunderdome-esque studio to a small no-bells-and-whistles space. The annual Halloween show, a fan favorite, has been scrapped. Product integrations, which used to be common on the broadcast, have become rare, putting a strain on the show’s revenue stream, while advertisers have begun to move to the competition.
“There are definitely tensions with ABC,” says the source.
An ESPN and ABC rep declined to comment. A rep for “The View” did not respond to a request for comment.
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