Stephen A. Smith responds to backlash after saying he’d divorce Serena Williams over Super Bowl cameo
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has responded after coming under fire for his comments about Serena Williams dancing in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show.
During an episode of the sports analyst’s First Take podcast on Monday, he explained that he wouldn’t have wanted to be the tennis legend’s husband because of her dating history with Drake — Lamar’s rival and the subject of his Grammy-winning diss track “Not Like Us.”
“If I’m your husband, I’m thinking, ‘Why are you up there trolling him — trolling your ex?’” Stephen said. “If I’m married, and my wife is going to troll her ex — go back to his ass. Because clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for — and you with me?”
After receiving intense backlash for his remarks, Smith issued a statement on X on Tuesday. “Please go back and look at exactly what I said. I was talking overall from a man’s perspective — highlighting what most men would think,” the post began.
“I didn’t utter a single disrespectful word about Serena. No issues with folks getting upset of literal serious stuff one’s pissed about. This doesn’t qualify peeps. Come on. We were joking around on @FirstTake. Damn y’all! It’s not that serious.”
“Everybody knows that she and Drake were together at one time, and it seemed like everyone wanted to get their lick,” he added.
