Stephen A. Smith has once again found himself in hot water for comments he made about Serena Williams’ Super Bowl halftime performance. The famed talk show 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, many are advising Smith to sit this one out, as he may be in over his head.
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For context, Williams took part in Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show in February during the Super Bowl. She appeared as a dancer performing the crip walk during the song “Not Like Us,” a derogatory track about Drake. Naturally, fans found this wildly interesting, as Williams dated the rapper off and on from 2011 to 2015. Even Smith had shared his thoughts.
To Stephen A., this Super Bowl spectacle wasn’t a matter of disrespect toward Drake. No, he believed it was a disrespectful move toward her husband, Alexis 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 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. But eight months have passed since then, and things had quieted down. That’s why it was surprising to see Ohanian on First Take this past week, calling 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,” and 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 slid into the picture to give 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.
Not only that, but the former QB later stated that Ohanian had to speak up in response to Stephen A. because 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 added.
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. for some pointed, disrespectful comments about his marriage. And Smith has already long ago backed off the argument, posting on his Twitter that he was just “joking around” and that “it’s not that serious.”
