Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock Beef

Overview

Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock Feud refers to the ongoing, public animosity between sports journalists Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock. Though the pair have voiced their dislike for each other for years, it culminated in a January 2024 controversy in which Whitlock accused Smith of lying in his autobiography and being an industry plant for ESPN. This caused Smith to insult and address Whitlock in a segment on his podcast, resulting in several viral clips spreading on social media that generated notable discourse.

Background

On January 5th, 2024, Jason Whitlock posted an article on TheBlaze^[1] responding to the Katt Williams and Shannon Sharpe interview in which Williams implied several powerful Black entertainers, including Kevin Hart, Steve Harvey, Chris Tucker and more, got their positions through shady connections and nepotism rather than their merit.

Whitlock argued that these stars were "selected" to be famous to peddle liberal agendas and lies, delving into transphobic and anti-vaccination rhetoric. He then pivoted to saying Stephen A. Smith was such a plant. He also said that Smith's autobiography Straight Shooter features fabrications about Smith's life story and implied that Smith hired a ghostwriter to write it. He ended by saying Smith either supports or has not spoken on the liberal "lies" he outlined earlier in his piece.

Developments

On January 10th, 2024, Stephen A. Smith discussed Whitlock on his podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show (full episode shown below).

In great detail, Smith proceeded to insult Whitlock, repeatedly calling him "a fat bastard" and a "piece of shit" and brought up his history with the Blaze journalist. Smith recalled that when Whitlock was tasked with creating a "Black Grantland" news publication, then called "The Undefeated," Whitlock attempted to recruit Smith and other notable Black sports journalists like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jemele Hill, who all refused to work with him.

Jemele Hill backed up his account on Twitter after the segment aired.^[2] He accused Whitlock of appearing in front of "white folks who… might have a problem with Black folks" and volunteering to write negatively about Black people, notably calling him "worse" than a white supremacist.

The segment was widely celebrated by many on social media in the following hours and days. Several clips went viral on Twitter / X after it aired. For example, on January 10th, 2024, Twitter user @shannonsharpeee posted a clip of the segment that gained over 3,500 retweets and 17,000 likes in one day (shown below, top). The same day, user @big_business_ posted a clip that gained over 1,900 retweets and 9,200 likes in the same timeframe (shown below, bottom).

Many users also voiced enjoyment for the vitriol with which Smith addressed Whitlock. On January 11th, Twitter user @KevOnStage^[3] expressed astonishment that Smith addressed Whitlock for over 30 minutes, gaining over 50 retweets and 540 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). On January 10th, user @doubledoink^[4] joked that watching Smith roast Whitlock must be what women who enjoy the Real Housewives series feel, gaining over 30 retweets and 510 likes in a day (shown below, right).

Whitlock^[5] later responded to Smith's segment on January 10th, 2024, by tweeting, "I knew Stephen A was limited. I didn't know he was this limited. I'm starting to feel sorry for him. I beat up a baby seal," gaining over 1,000 retweets and 9,000 likes in one day (shown below).

Search Interest

External References