ESPN has hit Stephen A. Smith where it hurts most -- his airtime. The network announced on Tuesday that it was pulling the First Take talker for a week from his ESPN2 morning show and ESPN Radio.

ESPN has hit Stephen A. Smith where it hurts most -- his airtime.

The network announced on Tuesday that it was pulling the First Take talker for a week from his ESPN2 morning show and ESPN Radio. He will return to ESPN next Wednesday. Smith is likely to take a break from social media as part of the move.

Asked by Sports Illustrated if it was a paid or unpaid de-facto suspension, an ESPN spokesperson declined comment.

First Take Mistake: Stephen A. Smith apologizes for comments

On Monday, in a taped statement read at the top of the show he co-debates with Skip Bayless, Smith offered an on-air apology for comments made on last Friday’s show. On that episode, in the midst of discussing the NFL’s adjudication of Ray Rice, Smith suggested that women should examine their role in provoking domestic violence incidents.

Those comments angered many colleagues, including Sports Nation host Michelle Beadle, who responded to Smith’s words by sending a series of tweets decrying his take on domestic violence. Wrote Beadle: “So I was just forced to watch this morning's First Take. A) I'll never feel clean again B) I'm now aware that I can provoke my own beating" ... "Violence isn't the victim's issue. It's the abuser's. To insinuate otherwise is irresponsible and disgusting.”

On Tuesday ESPN president John Skipper sent an in-house memo to ESPN's employees on Smith's comments: