If Stephen A. Smith is really mulling a White House bid, we may have an inkling who his running mate could be.
The First Take host and arguably busiest man in media is partnering with longtime pal Kevin Frazier on Smith’s Straight Shooter Media Inc. Joining SSM as a partner, the Entertainment Tonight co-host has taken a financial stake at the shingle, as well as an active creative role, I hear. And before you pop off, no Frazier is not leaving ET.
But the 2024 Daytime Emmy winner is in a good place, so he says, with this self-described “strategic partnership.”
“There are certain dreams you have in this business, and this is one of them: to work alongside your best friend,” Frazier told Deadline of the team-up with Smith.
The sentiment was reciprocated in kind by Smith.
“I’ve known Kevin Frazier for over 30 years,” he told Deadline of the decade-long ET co-host and former sports commentator. “The man is a force in this industry. This partnership isn’t about playing it safe. It’s about changing the game: producing content that’s smart and speaks to the culture. Straight Shooter Media is coming!”
While no concrete plans or projects between Smith and Frazier are public, the goal of the revised SSM is to “redefine how audiences engage with commentary, conversation, and connection across television, digital platforms, and streaming,” according to the company, which was formerly known as Mr. SAS Productions. To that, SMM promises an upcoming slate of “docuseries, interview-driven formats, and scripted projects currently in development with major networks and streaming platforms.”
The ambition was clear from the new $100 million deal Smith inked with ESPN owners Disney earlier this year. That agreement had distinct carve-outs for Smith to pursues projects outside the sports giant and outside sports itself.
With the WME-repped Smith’s ESPN duties, his General Hospital role and other acting gigs, frequent pundit appearances, his The Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube and more, his plan, as unveiled in June, is to launch two SiriusXM shows beginning in September, one a sports show on Mad Dog Radio Channel 82 and the other a political show on POTUS Channel 124. Smith will host both.
Cause some people just don’t believe there are only 24 hours in a day, and those people are the ones who usually run for president.
