Stephen A. Smith added more fuel to the firestorm centered on his clash with a Black journalist organization critical of his comments about Black female politicians by complaining to Fox News about the group.
The outspoken ESPN commentator and host of “First Take” appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show Monday after he fired off a sharp response to the National Assn. of Black Journalists naming him the recipient of a “Thumbs Down” award for what it called disparaging comments about several figures, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), former First Lady Michelle Obama and others. Smith called the award a “hit job.”
He found a sympathetic ear with Hannity, who has frequently denounced Black politicians and people of color.
“Doesn’t this have to do specifically with your criticism of radical people on the left … Jasmine Crockett, who says nutty things, [former MS Now anchor] Joy Reid, who in my view says nutty things … is that what this is about?” Hannity asked.
“I think it is,” Smith replied, “I don’t think there’s any question about it. And that’s why I spoke out against it because it’s utterly ridiculous.” Noting that he was raised by his mother and five sisters, he added, “I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. I find it highly offensive that they would label me in this way … I want everybody out there to know there’s not such thing. That did not happen. It’s a flat-out lie.”
He continued to defend his remarks, calling his comments a “difference of opinion about what they have said” and continued to lash out at the NABJ, saying its critique of him without noting his career accomplishments doesn’t live up to the standard of “a journalistic organization whose foundation is supposed to be based on objectivity and most importantly uplifting African Americans within the journalistic industry.”
Sports journalist and podcaster Jemele Hill was among several observers on social media who admonished Smith for complaining to an anchor on a national network that routinely berates Black politicians and cultural figures.
“It’s not up to me to tell [Smith] who to be friends with,” Hill said in an online interview with NBA Hoops. “But [Fox News] is a network whose entire positioning in the marketplace is not only anti-journalism. It’s anti-Black, it’s anti-everything. And that guy [Hannity] in particular is one of the ringleaders.”
She continued, “So to talk about what Black people did to you, you go on the most anti-Black network on network television to discuss it … If I had a dollar for every anti-Black racist statement made on Fox News, I’d be Elon Musk.”
On Saturday at its annual convention, the organization named Smith the recipient of its annual “Thumbs Down” award, saying he has “established a recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women across politics, sports and media.”
Smith appearing on Fox News sparked reaction on social media, with some calling out what they said was hypocrisy.
“It’s funny how NABJ holds out accountable, yet you run to the white man to cry about it,” the BMB Empower Network, a digital media platform centered on Black entertainment and politics, wrote in a post on X.
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