Last week, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith addressed comments made by Marcellus Wiley about Max Kellerman’s departure from First Take. Wiley shot back Thursday with harsh criticism of Smith.
Previously, Smith has claimed that the program needed a “fresh start” as reason for asking for the removal of Kellerman from the show. He shared he did not want to drop below ratings from the FS1 program that featured his former partner Skip Bayless. Wiley responded by arguing that Smith was insecure and “felt threatened by Kellerman”.
During an appearance on the popular radio morning show The Breakfast Club, Smith addressed Wiley’s comments.
“He and I worked together. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I know the man he was talking about (Kellerman), that’s his best friend,” Smith said. “I get all of that. No problem. Here’s my only issue: for a black man to sit up there and say another black man is scared of somebody’s intellect? Come on, bro.”
Wiley addressed the comments, accusing Smith of remaining untruthful about why he no longer wanted Kellerman as a debate partner on First Take.
“Stephen A. Smith is sidestepping the truth. Now, let me make this clear. Stephen A. Smith went on a calculated character and credential assassination of Max Kellerman. It wasn’t just a bad take. He kept going. He chose to make up a facade,” said Wiley. “The truth is simple. That would have been too simple. Lies are complex. That’s why he still kept talking about it. And Stephen, hey, I couldn’t let you keep doing that to Max Kellerman, because that dude has earned his stripes.
“So I’m just giving you that energy. That same energy you gave to Max Kellerman, and that same energy you give to countless athletes to say that I was wrong as a black man to question another black man’s intellect on a public platform, which I didn’t do. I didn’t question it. But I do know that you do question the intellect, the heart, the talent of black athletes every damn day on that show. That’s very rich of you to try and make what I said when it’s something you do every single day, which is highly hypocritical of you, Stephen A. I’m telling you, man, you either got to be true in this world, or shut the hell up. It’s just that simple.”
On his podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, the ESPN host said many want him to respond to Wiley, and another pundit who he refused to name, but is believed to be Jason Whitlock.
“I will not deny it. I think he’s a fat, no good bastard who I despise to the core,” Smith said of presumably Whitlock, adding that TheBlaze host has “the seeds of the devil” inside him.
Whitlock fired back on his Fearless with Jason Whitlock podcast by saying he wasn’t offended by Smith’s comments and agreed with Wiley.
“I’m disappointed and wish that he didn’t have that level of animous, because I don’t have it towards him, but I’ve put myself in position and the quirk in my personality allows me to be very, very honest,” said Whitlock. “Stephen A. Smith is not being honest here.”
