“ME Blaming Women”: Stephen A. Smith’s 15-Year-Old Tweet Resurfaces After Monica McNutt’s First Take Appearance

Stephen A. Smith can’t seem to catch a break at the moment. Shortly after his heated exchange with Monica McNutt devalued his credibility, the sports analyst made the headlines again for unprecedented reasons. A 15-year-old online statement from Smith recently resurfaced on social media platforms, raising eyebrows in the basketball community.

In early April 2009, the sportscaster admitted to criticizing females for the unpopularity of women’s basketball. Smith expressed his stance on X (formerly Twitter), mentioning, “Yes Folks! That was ME blaming women for the lack of popularity with the WNBA and Women’s College Ball”.

Yes Folks! That was ME blaming women for the lack of popularity with the WNBA and Womens's College Ball.

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 8, 2009

His more than a decade-old comment came to the limelight following his bold declaration on the latest episode of ESPN’s First Take. While conversing with McNutt, Smith claimed the show to be the leading platform for discussing women’s basketball. He asked, “Who talks more about the WNBA, who talks about women’s sports more than First Take?”.

His age-old statement ironically contradicted his recent proclamation. This scenario made him seem like a boaster attempting to capitalize on the rising attention around the league. It consequently raised question marks over his integrity, leading to the displeasure of the show’s followers.

Much to the fans’ delight, McNutt took a stand against this. While responding to Smith’s latest declaration, the 34-year-old delivered the knockout blow, claiming, “Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to”. This stunned the entire panel, prompting the host, Molly Qerim, to steer the show into a commercial break.

SAS "Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women's sports more than First Take?"

Monica McNutt: "Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted"

(@awfulannouncing)

pic.twitter.com/hdh5XDL2jz

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 3, 2024

This unexpected jab at Smtih’s image undoubtedly belittled him in public. As a result, the analyst had no choice but to come up with a response to shield his reputation, and he did precisely so.

Stephen A. Smith brutally called out Monica McNutt

Following the humiliation on live television, Smith took to The Stephen A. Smith Show to respond to McNutt’s comments. He hinted at how the latter became popular solely due to her appearances on the show, questioning her acceptability. Smith extended his wrath, stating,

“You ever heard of Monica McNutt? You have now because she’s on First Take a lot…I challenge anybody to find a show on sports television that discusses women’s issues, that discusses the WNBA and women’s sports, that highlights and profiles female analysts more than First Take”.

Stephen A basically just said he made these ladies famous….

“You ever heard of Monica McNutt?….. you have now, because she’s on first take a lot.”

pic.twitter.com/f5nrEzf9um

— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) June 3, 2024

So, the ongoing controversies over his remarks failed to soften his stance. Additionally, he refused to back down from the criticism, fighting an uphill battle by putting his reputation at further risk.

This has built the premise for an interesting back-and-forth between the ESPN analysts, raising fan interest over the matter.