Stephen A. Smith’s latest endorsement deal has drawn sharp criticism from former ESPN personality Michelle Beadle and her co-host Cody Decker. On the latest episode of Beadle and Decker, the pair reacted to news that Smith had been named an ambassador for Papaya Gaming’s World Solitaire Championship, a partnership announced just months after Smith went viral for being caught playing Solitaire during ESPN’s NBA Finals coverage.
“Honestly, I’m not a religious person, but I pray for the downfall,” said Beadle. “It’s gross, man, you gotta have principles in this thing.”
Beadle didn’t hold back in her assessment, accusing ESPN of creating a media monster by enabling Smith’s antics and outsized personality.
“ESPN pays him a gazillion dollars to get a lot of stuff wrong and yell,” Beadle said. “He gets caught playing solitaire during the NBA freaking Finals. You created this monster. He is bigger than you now, and that’s exactly your fault. You let him run rampant all over that company.”
She went further, arguing that Smith’s new gaming deal symbolizes how disconnected he’s become from his role as ESPN’s top face.
“He made you look like fools for handing him a blank check in the first place,” she added. “He doesn’t even give a s**t about the stuff that he’s paid a gazillion dollars to talk about. Now he’s turning around and turning that into a money-making opportunity. Then the money-making opportunity looks like it’s a fraudulent crap business to begin with.”
Papaya Gaming Company is currently engaged in a lawsuit filed by competitor Skillz Platform Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Papaya committed fraud through false advertising. Plus violated New York’s general business law by promoting its mobile games as “totally fair and skill-based” when they are instead “rigged.”
According to the complaint, between 2019 and “at least November 2023,” Papaya used bots “masquerading as human players” in games where human players had money on the line, unfairly making it impossible for users to succeed.
As for Beadle, she has been a long time critic of Smith at ESPN. In June, after The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Stephen A. Smith would be taking over Beadle and Decker’s timeslot on SiriusXM radio. Beadle spoke with Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports earlier this year. Where she turned her ousting by SiriusXM into a personal beef with her successor in Smith. Although they were colleagues at ESPN together at several points throughout their careers. Beadle has admitted that her and Stephen A. Smith are not friends in the discussion with FOS.
“I will never share a set with that person ever, because I don’t respect him,” she said. “Life’s too short.”
Cody Decker echoed Beadle’s frustrations, focusing his criticism on other ESPN talents who have joined Smith in promoting Papaya Gaming’s Solitaire app online. He accused them of putting corporate relationships above personal integrity.
“I don’t know how much shilling is going on behind the scenes, but people in our industry have embarrassed themselves in ways that I don’t think I’ve ever seen,” Decker said. “You have them all fighting for Solitaire ads for Stephen A. Smith. You have all of these dips***s just shilling themselves out…. Let’s just call it what it is—whoring themselves out as harshly as they can.”
Smith, already one of the highest-paid figures in sports media, has steadily expanded his brand beyond First Take through podcasting, satellite radio, digital partnerships, and personal branding deals.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
