Stephen A. Smith slams critics

Stephen A. Smith is well aware of the accusations that he’s a “company man.”

And when it comes to those who paint him with such labels, the First Take star has quite the response.

“People who feel that way are full of s**t. They all answer to somebody,” Smith told The Hollywood Reporter ‘s Mike O’Connell in a wide-ranging Q&A . “You think you can go on YouTube and just do what you want to? This notion that somebody goes out there and doesn’t have to answer to anybody’s a flat-out lie.”

Smith proceeded to note the hot water that Joe Rogan found himself in after a video compilation of him saying racial slurs was published in 2022.

“I’m not trying to throw any shade — I’m a fan and I’m an admirer of his — but when Joe Rogan got himself into trouble years ago, he was number one by a mile in the podcast stratosphere,” he said. “So why was he in trouble? He had somebody to answer to. If you’re paid with someone else’s money, so do you. No individual is bigger than a conglomerate. The only person that is free is the person that ain’t getting paid.”

Rogan might not be the best example considering he was hardly punished by Spotify or any of his other employers for the controversy, but to Smith’s point, almost everybody answers to somebody. If Vince McMahon can be forced to resign from WWE’s parent company , then the number of people in sports (or elsewhere) without a boss — real or implied — are few and far between.

While one reading of Smith’s comments could be him conceding that he’s a “company man,” the former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist doesn’t see it that way. In fact, he has been plenty upfront about his willingness to do what’s best for ESPN after previously being fired by the company in 2009, which he believes will serve him well as he continues to negotiate his next payday .

“When I got fired, everybody knew that I failed in the ratings,” he said. “As they chronicled it, I blew my career. When I came back, I realized there are rules. I played by them and I won. That’s how you go to the negotiating table.”

[ Hollywood Reporter ]

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