Stephen A. Smith found himself under fire again this week.
In the latest episode of “Naked Sports” with sports broadcaster Cari Champion, a fellow media figure, Joy Reid, pushed back on Smith’s claim that she was fired over ratings. She also blasted him for his willingness to demean Black people, especially Black women.
“They’re paying you, not for your number, my friend. They’re paying you because you are willing to say the nasty things about Black people that they want to say,” Reid said in a clip shared on TikTok. “You’re willing to take their denigration of Black women and put it in the mouth of a Negro. And because you’re willing to put the denigration of Black women in particular into a Negro’s mouth, you now think that ‘Oh, I must be a freaking political genius.’
“But just be clear, you’re not being paid for your numbers, you’re being paid for what you’re willing to do to us for white people’s entertainment.”
Reid didn’t stop there. She pushed back on his ratings claim, pointing out that he’s getting paid $100 million for a show that had half of her ratings when she was at MSNBC.
“I had to literally Google his numbers,” Reid said. “I’m like, ‘How many people listen to his show? Is it like four million?’ Dude, that’s like average CNN. That’s not that high.”
In recent weeks, Smith has had to defend himself against comments made by his former “First Take” co-host Max Kellerman, Dan Le Batard, and Jason Whitlock.
