Jalen Rose Dismisses Rumors That He Split Up With Molly Qerim Due To Relationship With Stephen A. Smith: "It Was Such A Reach. That's Why None Of Us Have Spoken On It."

Jalen Rose and Molly Qerim are both prominent figures on ESPN. While usually, they are in the news for their sports takes, the two were also heavily covered by a lot of media outlets over the course of the last few months due to them getting divorced from one another.

As of right now, it is unclear why the divorce happened, though the couple did end on amicable terms. Some have speculated that Jalen Rose and Molly Qerim split up due to Qerim having a relationship with co-worker Stephen A. Smith.

In an interview with GQ's Tyler R. Tynes, Jalen Rose dismissed the rumors that he split up with Molly Qerim due to her having a relationship with Stephen A. Smith. Rose claimed that he "knew it wasn't true" and added that he didn't respond to the rumors because "it made the people who ran with it look less credible".

In my personal relationship, it was laughable to me, to see [Molly Querim] and I mutually part ways, be in accord about why we’re parting ways, and still see people speculating on why. Not only speculating—in particular saying it was because her and Stephen A. Smith had a relationship. And…And, like, unequivocally, I’m not here to speak for what he does in his personal life or what she does in her personal life, I got love for both of them. We still 100. I would just say that for people who thought we parted ways because they have a relationship? Then I got some swampland in Detroit to sell you for top dollar. That is not why we split.

I still see that, by the way. I might say something about someone’s team and I’ll see, “That’s why Molly left him!” or “That’s why Stephen A. kickin’ it wit’ yo ex-wife!” That’s not true. But, when it happened, it’s two ways for me to handle it as a professional: I work with him, I got love for him, and that's my brother. I got love for her, we were friends before we were married, we just didn’t work as a couple. I just saw her today. We cool! But for me to see the speculation and for people to assume that was why, it bothered me.

It was like a month when it was heavy. It was blogs about it. It was trending, he was trending, she was trending, I was trending. It was a real thing. And, like, am I about to respond to that? It gave me a real fork in the road. But I didn’t, because I knew it wasn’t true. I would just be fueling those people. Not responding, and finally sprinkling some here and there, it made people who ran with it look less credible. We discussed it. It’s why none of us said anything. People would say, “Jalen’s a sucker, Stephen A. snatched his wife and he up there workin’ with him,” or “Look, at Molly, she was talkin’ to Jalen yesterday now she kickin it with…” That ain’t happen.

We all looked at it like: it was such a reach. That’s why none of us have spoken on it.

It is understandable why the speculation "bothered" Jalen Rose. No one wants false information to be spread about them, especially about such a sensitive topic as this one. 

Perhaps this interview by Jalen Rose puts an end to all the speculation surrounding his divorce. There is no doubt that there are oftentimes when prominent peoples' social lives are on display, and that opens the door up for rumors. However, it is clear that the rumor about Molly Qerim and Stephen A. Smith was false, and hopefully, those rumors die down fully going forward.