Sportswriter Jeff Pearlman has had enough of Stephen A. Smith giving his “opinion about everything.” Specifically, Pearlman is upset at Smith for saying black people relate to Donald Trump, and he’d like the ESPN hot-taker to “stop f*cking talking” about Trump like he knows who he really is.
Last week, Smith appeared on Fox News’ Hannity to discuss the former president’s ongoing legal battles. In reaction to Trump’s statement that black people identify with him because of the legal system’s “discriminating against” him, Smith sacked Trump up.
“Dare I say something that might– will probably be termed the most uncomfortable thing that I’ve ever had to articulate out of my mouth from a political perspective,” Smith said on Hannity. “But I gotta tell you something. As much as people may have been abhorred by Donald Trump’s statement weeks ago talking about how Black folks, he’s hearing that Black folks find him relatable because of what he is going through is similar to what Black Americans have gone through, he wasn’t lying! He was telling the truth.”
🚨#BREAKING: Stephen A. Smith: "When you see the law being exercised against Donald Trump, it is something that black folks can relate to." pic.twitter.com/Nu3wnV5Bkq
— Andy Hidalgo (@realandyhidalgo) April 19, 2024
In a video response posted to TikTok a few days later, Pearlman blasted Smith for appearing on Fox News and for his take on Trump.
“Why do you have to have an opinion about everything?” Pearlman said. “Like, why are you, Stephen A. Smith — successful by all measures — why are you going on Fox News? Why are you going on Hannity? And why are you comparing Trump’s legal situation to that of the plight of black Americans? It’s fucking insane! It doesn’t even make sense.
Sports television personality Stephen A. Smith is seen on Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl LVIII at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on February 08, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
“There’s no comparison to be made. Black people are shit on over and over and over again, and here’s this guy Donald Trump… When the Central Park Five were exonerated, he continued to call for their death penalty and refused to accept it. I mean, he’s a bad guy. When he had Queens housing, he limit the amount of available for blacks. Not a good guy, so stop fucking talking like you know because you actually don’t know in this subject.”
Smith and Pearlman have a history. In 2017, amid dozens of layoffs at ESPN, Pearlman listed the network’s retention of Smith and his lucrative contract as a sign that journalism had lost its way. Smith responded by questioning why Pearlman was singling him out and listing his credentials.
