Chris Russo sends ‘First Take’ off the rails with Chaka Khan gaffe

You never know who Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo might get mad at on First Take, but leave Chaka Khan out of it.

Wednesday morning, during his “What Are You Mad About?” segment on First Take, Russo was ready to unleash on the Jacksonville Jaguars for getting blown out by the Los Angeles Rams in London. And he began by taking aim at the Jaguars’ owner.

“Chaka Khan, the owner of the Jaguars” – Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo pic.twitter.com/7Dscu6qDk7

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 22, 2025

“I know that Chaka Khan, the owner of the Jaguars,” Russo said, sparking immediate laughter out of Stephen A. Smith, Jay Williams and Peter Schrager. The obvious blunder here is that Chaka Khan is a renowned singer and songwriter, while Shad Khan owns the Jaguars. No relation.

Whatever Russo had to say about the Jaguars after that didn’t matter. Smith, Williams and Schrager were too far gone. Russo lost his audience the second he named Chaka Khan as the Jaguars owner.”

“That’s an all-timer!” Smith said through a fit of laughter. “You have no idea what you just done! Chaka Khan.”

Chaka Khan, Shad Khan, very different people, but the names are similar. You can sort of understand how this mistake would happen. Especially by Russo, who regularly butchers names, words and phrases. And now that he made this mistake, it won’t happen again, right? Probably not.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, but this wasn’t the first time Russo confused Shad Khan for Chaka Khan. It happened earlier this year on his SiriusXM Radio show, when Russo ranted about Chaka Khan being a terrible NFL owner.

Shad Khan, Barack Obama, Chris Olave, Matt Eberflus, Saquon Barkley, Washington Commanders, even his own colleagues at ESPN and Mad Dog Radio, no name is safe from being butchered by Russo. And hopefully, Russo keeps adding to the list. Because weirdly, Russo’s quirky and slaphappy style as a broadcaster is all part of his appeal.