[Opinion] ‘They're Trying to Gain Clout Off Your Name‘: Stephen A. Smith Does Not Hold Back on Democrats

‘They're trying to gain clout off your name‘: Stephen A. Smith does not hold back on Democrats

Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesLast week, Stephen A. Smith was given the “Thumbs Down” award from the National Association of Black Journalists for his ‘lack of accountability‘ and for ‘disparaging black women.’ Smith briefly defended himself in a post on X. After 11 days of silence, he took to YouTube to address the matter fully on his channel, Stephen A’s Straight Shooter Media. In the episode, Smith discusses why he waited so long to respond, why the …

Stephen A. Smith’s problem isn’t his opinions. It’s accountability

This article was originally written by Joseph Williams for Word In Black. As a sports journalist-turned-media personality with political ambitions, Stephen A. Smith has never met a room he couldn’t fill with the sound of his own voice.  So when the National Association of Black Journalists handed ESPN’s flagship Black commentator a “Thumbs Down” award last Saturday at its annual conference in Atlanta — citing what it called Smith’s “recurring pu…

The Politics of more N-Stuff in public

Similiar to the Academy Awards show a few years ago, when Will Smith grabbed all the headlines for ‘slapping the *** out of a Black comedian who had just made an insulting joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, Will’s wife, this year’s National Association of Black Journalists 2026 Salute to Excellence Awards Gala on August 15th was rocked by the NABJ presenting its major “Thumbs Down” award to sports and political analyst Stephen A. Smith. He was decid…