Stephen A. Smith Is Still Not Happy With ESPN Suspension
Stephen A. Smith Is Still Not Happy With ESPN Suspension originally appeared on The Spun.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith is pretty much untouchable at this stage in his career. That wasn't always the case though.
In 2014, Smith made a questionable remark about Ray Rice getting suspended for domestic violence. He told a national audience that he has implored the female members of his family to avoid provoking wrong actions.
"I don't know how many times I got to reiterate that. But as a man who was raised by women, see, I know what I'm going to do if somebody touches a female member of my family. I know what I'm going to do, I know what my boys are going to do. I know what, I'm going to have to remind myself that I work for the Worldwide Leader, I'm going to have to get law enforcement officials involved because of what I'm going to be tempted to do," Smith said in July 2014.
"But what I've tried to implore the female members of my family, some of who you all met and talked to and what have you, is that again, and this is what, I've done this all my life, let's make sure we don't do anything to provoke wrong actions. Because if I come, or somebody else come, whether it's law enforcement officials, your brother or the fellas that you know, if we come after somebody has put their hands on you, it doesn't negate the fact that they already put their hands on you. So, let's try to make sure that we can do our part in making sure that that doesn't happen."
ESPN ultimately suspended Smith for a week because of his remarks about Rice and domestic violence. To this day, he disagrees with the network's decision.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, the face of "First Take" said he didn't deserve a suspension for his comments.
"Everybody and their mother advises me, 'Don't revisit it. It's a no-win situation.' To me, that's cowardice," Smith said, via Awful Announcing. "I know what I said. And what I did was utter the word 'provoke.' A former colleague at ESPN took it, ran with it, and it went ballistic on Twitter. The leadership at ESPN reacted to that. When the heat elevated, [they] said, 'We have to suspend you.' And that's a blemish on my career I do not believe I deserve. I've been consistent in that position. I'm a father of two daughters. I know what I've never condoned or excused. Unfortunately, we live in an immature society where people are not deducing right from wrong and contextualizing things properly."
Even though his rant may have been a bit bizarre, Smith wasn't trying to excuse domestic violence. That being said, ESPN did what it felt was necessary.Stephen A. Smith Is Still Not Happy With ESPN Suspension first appeared on The Spun on Jun 19, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
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