ESPN’s First Take host Stephen A. Smith and BlazeTV commentator Jason Whitlock are engaged in another heated exchange that has reignited long-running tensions between the two sports media figures. The feud stems from Whitlock’s recent appearance on The Sage Steele podcast, where he criticized Smith’s recounting of his upbringing and questioned his professional integrity.
During the interview, Whitlock, who referred to himself as “the greatest sportswriter ever,” suggested Smith has repeatedly altered his personal narrative to advance his career.
“You can go look up in the late 1990s, early 2000s what Stephen A. would say about his father. No criticism at all, mostly praise of his father. Certainly no criticism,” Whitlock said. “Then he comes out with this book and basically says he had an absentee father, and he can’t stand his father, and it’s all about his mother. That’s trying to put Stephen A. in the feminist lane… I have looked at previous interviews from the late 1990s and early 2000s. He had a completely different narrative about his dad than he does now. And so, everything about Stephen A., from his college basketball career to his early career as a sports journalist, it’s all been managed and assisted.”
Smith, known for his fiery responses to criticism, did not hold back. He held court on his own Straight Shooter podcast where he accused Whitlock of dishonesty and unethical behavior throughout his career.
“He brings up God a lot. Tell me what’s God-like about what he does. He talks smack about people and ventures into the personal. He swears up and down he knows stuff he can’t possibly know,” Smith said. “But never telling the truth about himself. How were you acting before you got a job at BlazeTV? What proclivities did you have, Jason Whitlock?”
Smith further accused Whitlock of invasive reporting tactics, including recording conversations without consent, and of undermining colleagues over the years.
“You know why you don’t see Jason Whitlock there? Because he can’t show up in public. He’s scared of what’s going to happen to him. Because that’s how many enemies he has because of all the lies that he has told, especially about Black people. This is the devil in the flesh,” Smith said.
Smith also mocked Whitlock’s past frustrations during his time at FOX Sports, recalling a humorous incident over a parking space, and dismissed Whitlock’s attempts to gain influence in sports journalism.
“He wanted to look and see what parking spot it was and it was a parking spot for Skip Bayless. He had a problem with it,” explained Smith. “What he didn’t tell you, I almost croaked, because he got on his knees to look under the car to see whose parking spot it was and his big behind was struggling to get up. That’s why they still laugh about that stuff.”
“Jason Whitlock is hurting because I’m where he wants to be,” Smith said. “When he talks about politics, nobody cares. When he gives social commentary about issues that don’t pertain to one of us, or talks about journalism, nobody cares.”
The exchange highlights a long-standing rivalry between the two commentators, each critical of the other’s professional credibility and personal character. With both unwilling to back down, the feud shows no sign of abating, underscoring the competitive and often personal nature of sports media discourse.
“You name a black person in this business. 99.9% of us want nothing to do with him because we know who he is and what he is,” Smith said of Whitlock. “He’s the devil in the flesh, and everybody needs to be careful because the closer you get to him, the closer to hell you will go. There’s a special place for people like him.”
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