Stephen A. Smith finds himself in hot water again for the comment he made about Serena Williams’ Super Bowl halftime performance in February. The analyst suggested at the time that if he were her husband, he would divorce the tennis star for trolling her ex-boyfriend, Drake. Now, after being confronted by Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, last week, many are advising Smith to sit this one out.
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Williams took part in Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show during Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. She appeared as a dancer performing the crip walk during the song “Not Like Us,” a derogatory track about Drake.
Fans found this wildly interesting at the time since Williams and the rapper were dating on and off from 2011 to 2015. Smith had shared his thoughts, too. Stephen A. believed it was a disrespectful move by Williams toward her husband, Ohanian.
“If I’m your husband, I’m thinking, ‘Why are you up there trolling him—trolling your ex?’ If I’m married, and my wife is going to troll her ex, go back to his a**. Because clearly you don’t belong with me. What [are] you worried about him for—and you with me?” Stephen A. said at the time.
Fans online vehemently disagreed with Smith’s take, and he faced backlash. Eight months on, things were reignited again when Ohanian appeared on First Take this past week and called out Stephen A.
Ohanian interrupted a segment to come in with his question for Smith. “Stephen A. Smith, I think you had some marriage advice for me. Is that right?” Ohanian stated. Stephen A. was caught so off guard that he didn’t really know how to respond. He said something about “headlines being headlines.”
Ohanian seemed to get his revenge by making Smith squirm on live TV. Clearly, he had kept the receipts from all those months ago. In response to the viral exchange, former NFL QB Cam Newton gave some advice to Stephen A.
“If you cannot relate, do not debate. Because right there, being a married man, you’ve got to stand on business. For your household,” Newton professed on his podcast 4th & 1. The former QB added that Ohanian had to speak up in response to Stephen A. since the polarizing analyst was testing his marriage.
“If you can’t relate to that type of dynamic or situation, now you’re testing my gangster. Now you’re testing my manhood. Now you’re testing my household. Because my wife, my lady, my woman, will look at me differently if I let you slide on by,” Newton said.
Who knows if that’s really the case in Williams and Ohanian’s household? After all, they probably have a better dynamic than we think. They have two kids together. That’s why Ohanian felt comfortable waiting so long before addressing the beef.
At the end of the day, though, this doesn’t really seem like two guys beefing. It just seems like Ohanian saw an opportunity to get back at Stephen A. Smith had already backed off the argument long back, posting on X that he was just “joking around” and that “it’s not that serious.”
