Stephen A. Smith is arguably one of the most recognizable of ESPN’s sportscaster personalities. He not only dominates ESPN’s First Take in the morning, as the arch-foil of Skip Bayless, he also has two national radio shows, one of which he was just awarded on Thursday August 7th. If you’ve ever watched Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update”, then you may know him for his love of LeBron James. Even if you aren’t a follower of First Take or SNL, you may have heard of Stephen A. Smith in the past week because of his commentary on domestic violence and the one-week suspension from ESPN that followed. Whatever your familiarity with Stephen A., I’m here to give you a play-by-play.
First, some quick background info! The NFL has suspended Baltimore Raven’s running back Ray Rice for two games this upcoming season. This reprimand comes as a consequence of assaulting and knocking-out cold his then-fiancé, now wife, back in February. This mildness of the suspension was being discussed on First Take, when Stephen A. thought it best to “employ” women not to “provoke” domestic violence. Smith feels it is important that women do their “part” in preventing their own beating. Yes, Smith ventured into some seedy territory.
So, here’s what he said and how his colleague Michelle Beadle responded via twitter:
Now be your own judge, but Michelle Beadle’s response nails it for me. But, he just thought that people were enraged due to miscommunication. So, he decided to enlighten us all via a twitter rant (condensed below).
“In discussing the Ray Rice ruling earlier today on @ESPN_FirstTake, me and @RealSkipBayless ventured into discussing domestic violence. Upon hearing what I had to say, although admitting I could’ve been more articulate on the matter, let me be clear: I don’t understand how on earth someone could interpret that I somehow was saying women are to blame for domestic violence. And when I saw @MichelleDBeadle – a colleague I have profound respect for – tweet what she tweeted, enough is enough. Something needs to be said right now. REPEATEDLY I said: There is absolutely no excuse to put your hands on a women. REPEATEDLY, I said dudes who do that need to be dealt with. REPEATEDLY, I echoed when confronted by it in the past – when someone was stupid enough to touch a loved one of this man, raised by four older sisters, a mom, and numerous female relatives and loved ones, that man was dealt with. From that point, I simply asked: now what about the other side. If a man is pathetic and stupid enough to put his hands on a woman – which I have NEVER DONE, btw – of course he needs to pay the price. Who on earth is denying that? But what about addressing women on how they can help prevent the obvious wrong being done upon them? In no way was I accusing a women of being wrong. I was simply saying what that preventive measures always need to be addressed because there’s only but so much that can be done after the fact….once the damage is already done. Nothing more. My apologies to @MichelleDBeadle And any woman out there who misconstrued what I said. I have always – and will always – find violence against a women every bit as horrific as women, themselves, find it. Always have. Always will, which my personal behavior exemplifies. I’ll strive to be more articulate in the future. But be clear, I wasn’t BLAMING women for anything. I was simply saying to take all things into consideration for preventative purposes. Period.” — Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
Ahh thank you, I feel so much better now, Mr. Smith! Yeah, right. The only thing you clarified is that you meant exactly what you said on air. We understood you the first time, Stephen. Eventually, he deleted this twitter rant and a final apology was aired on ESPN. ESPN let him off with only a one-week suspension. To my great surprise, there have been floods of social media posts defending not only Smith, but what he said as well!
For all those out there who are citing Smith’s right to freedom of speech as a citizen of the United States, please remember that he is an employee and representative of ESPN. ESPN, last time I checked, is not the government. Remember, Donald Sterling’s comments a few months back? The NBA banned him because it did not wish to have such beliefs represented by its organization. ESPN has every right to discipline Stephen A.; in fact, they could fire him based on his actions. Smith’s words were prejudicial and shifted blame onto the victims of domestic violence, voicing such an opinion as someone so intimately tied to ESPN as Smith is could easily justify lawful termination. For those out there defending the content of what he said, the majority of the posts I referred to, I highly doubt they’d be reading Her Campus. Although, they could definitely benefit from it.
Here’s my take on all this:
Women’s actions are not provocation for domestic violence; just as wearing a short skirt or a plunging neckline does not cause OR provoke rape. A lack of self-control, a desire for power, and consequence on behalf of the attacker causes both of these. ESPN, a one-week suspension? That’s it? When a reporter asked if the suspension was paid or unpaid, the ESPN representative declined comment. Hmm, I wonder what that means. ESPN supposedly has a policy against their reporters publically attacking each other, but seem to be excusing Beadle in this instance, which I think is indicative in this situation of who was in the wrong. However, ESPN clearly absolved Stephen A. Smith of – what he calls – “the biggest mistake” of his career when his newest radio show was announced just a day after he returned from his suspension. Seriously, that deadline couldn’t be pushed back just a little?
Stephen A’s third apology can be viewed below. I will give him some credit for not once contesting the suspension, as documented in a TMZ video. Smith is paid to be a sports journalist and I think he should stick to sports.
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