Monica McNutt makes surprise Daily Show appearance after First Take absence and bust-up with Stephen A. Smith

ESPN star Monica McNutt made a stunning appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart despite not appearing recently on her usual First Take spots.

McNutt appeared on the Comedy Central program on Monday after she confronted Stephen A. Smith on a viral topic on First Take last week.

Comedy Central/Instagram

Comedy Central/Instagram

ESPN/First Take

TV viewers could watch McNutt make the surprise showing on The Daily Show on Monday night.

The show features the iconic Stewart who has returned to be a part-time host for the program once a week.

McNutt has appeared on ESPN’s programming, specifically First Take, for the past few years.

During the interview, McNutt, who wore a colorful yellow dress, revealed her stance on the increased popularity of women’s basketball and the WNBA .

The ESPN star told Stewart about how she continues to attempt to cover the WNBA since the top overall pick Caitlin Clark made her debut.

“While Caitlin is fantastic and I think she’s going to have an incredible career in the WNBA, there were women who were worthy of coverage prior to her, and I will not be silenced when it comes to that,” McNutt said.

But once McNutt said that she was on the show because of Clark, Stewart disagreed, saying, “So I am going to tell you this,” Stewart said.

“The viral moment maybe brought you some national attention. I have been loving what you do. You are such a good basketball analyst and announcer. I have been following you on the New York Knicks .”

The conversation about Clark comes after she argued with Smith on First Take early last week.

The two personalities were discussing the NCAA Division 1 all-time leading scorer when McNutt called out Stephen A. for not speaking about women’s sports earlier.

“Welcome to the world of being a woman, Stephen A,” she said.

“How you have to dance about your word choice and how you have to please everybody and anybody as you navigate your being.”

Stephen A. replied, saying “Who talks more about the WNBA, who talks about women’s sports more than First Take?”

That caused McNutt to not hold back with her words.

The Daily Show / YouTube

“Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to,” McNutt responded.

Smith was left speechless, only saying, “Wow” as the argument finished.

McNutt hasn’t appeared on First Take since the dust-up.

On Tuesday, she posted Instagram pics of herself alongside Stewart while on The Daily Show.

The caption read, “As cool as I thought he would be.

“A moment in the journey for sure.

Thank you, Jon Stewart.”