Stephen A. Smith doubles down after Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian calls out ESPN host


Stephen A. Smith doubled down on what he said about tennis legend Serena Williams' Super Bowl halftime appearance dancing to Kendrick Lamar's “They don't like us.” During the show, she made a brief appearance dancing to the song, which went viral as a song about Williams' ex, Drake.

Eight months after the incident, Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, was confronted Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's “First Take” on Oct. 9. On “The Pivot” podcast on Friday, the ESPN analyst opened up about the whole incident.

“Serena Williams, husband, it would have been a completely different situation if she had been in the studio… All I was saying was, as men, if I'm married and my wife had the energy and the fervor to show up on Super Bowl Sunday and go on stage specifically to dance to a song that disrespects her ex, my question would be, why are you that energy with me?

“I shouldn't have said it that way. I'll admit it. . . . If I was face to face, and he came at me like that, I would have just said, 'Sir, I didn't mean it that way, but do you really want me to take it?' Because if you really want me to take it there, I'm going to ask the question again.”

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In February, Stephen A. Smith slammed Serena Williams for her crip walking dance, wondering why she was trolling her ex as a married woman.

“If I'm married and my wife is going to join her ex's troll, get back on her ass,” Smith said. “Because you clearly don't belong to me. Why did you care about him and stay with me? Goodbye. Goodbye.”

Alexis Ohanian he decided to shout the ESPN analyst despite his virtual presence during the Oct. 9 episode of “First Take.”

“Stephen A.Smith, I think you gave me marriage advice. Is that so?” Ohanian said. “I was hoping you'd be here. I'd ask because you haven't been married before, right? I give advice to a lot of founders who want to build billion-dollar companies, and the reason I do that is because I build billion-dollar companies. So I generally try to stay on track.”

After the showdown, Stephen A. Smith shared a video on YouTube addressing what had happened while reiterating his initial comments about Serena Williams. She claimed she didn't remember saying anything negative about the couple and was just wondering why the tennis legend had such energy for an ex.


Former NBA star calls out Stephen A. Smith after confronting Alexis Ohanian on national TV

After what happened between the ESPN analyst and Serena Williams' husband on “First Take,” retired NBA star Stephen Jackson reacted to the situation.

In her Instagram stories, she called out Stephen A. Smith for staying quiet while being pressured by Alexis Ohanian. He stated that the The analyst would have been more vocal if it was LeBron James.

“Come on, Stephen A., bro. You get all loud about your feelings about Bron, when you talk to a black billionaire, but when you talk to a white billionaire, you're humble. And you come back on your show talking very respectfully, soft-spoken…Stay out of politics and keep talking about sports you've never played, okay?”

Stephen A. Smith has apologized to both Serena Williams and Aleix Ohanian for his comments. However, it will be interesting to see if the issue drags on later.