Stephen A. Smith spent nearly 40 minutes Wednesday night taking shots at fellow media personality Jason Whitlock, producing one of the most epic takedowns in recent media history.
Smith used his own podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, to tear Whitlock to shreds, escalating a beef that seemingly has gone on behind the scenes for years but recently resurfaced publicly when Whitlock criticized Smith’s new book, Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes, for exaggerating aspects of his career. Whitlock even called Smith, “Stephen A. Myth,” a comment that almost certainly rubbed the ESPN personality the wrong way.
To say Stephen A. pulled no punches would be an understatement.
Smith unleashed an incredible rant loaded with expletives and revealed some wild details about the history the two have together, including the fact that he insisted on a clause stating he would never have to work with Whitlock in his 2015 ESPN contract.
“I’m a very forgiving person. Not with him,” Smith said. “I hate this bastard, far more than a little bit. He is the worst human being any of you will ever meet. You get within a mile of his presence, wrap your arms around yourself to protect yourself to protect your soul. … He is a devil. The worst. That’s all I have to say.”
Smith also said that Whitlock is “the dude that’s going to have a funeral, and [there] ain’t going to be no pallbearers. Might be two people that show up.”
“He’s the absolute worst. And he lies. And he incriminates. And tries to set people up to fail to pick up himself because he can’t do it on his own,” Smith said. “He had a television show. He failed. He’s had opportunities one time after another. He doesn’t measure up. And now he’s coming at the big dog, and let me tell you something right now: I am the big dog.”
Smith said he was “begged” by TV executives not to go at Whitlock, but was told by his pastor that “every now and then, we gotta do what we gotta do,” and so Smith went for it anyway.
Here are more highlights from Smith’s viral takedown.
3.5 minutes of @stephenasmith going off on Jason Whitlock with the Ether beat in the background is 🔥
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) January 11, 2024
H/t @KillaSZNKam pic.twitter.com/b3Zbi641dN
Stephen A. Smith closes out his hour-long live stream about Jason Whitlock.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 11, 2024
"He is the worst human being any of you will ever meet. You get within a mile of his presence, wrap your arms around yourself to protect your soul."pic.twitter.com/gqdh4iFiwo
It’s hard to ever remember a media feud that felt this personal. We’ll see if Smith has any more to say on the matter moving forward.
