Did Stephen A. Smith Make Female Co-Host Apologize Over Heated WNBA Debate?

Stephen A. Smith and Monica McNutt had a heated exchange on social media on Monday (June 3). Actually, they first clashed on ESPN’s popular show First Take, and it all spilled out onto social media. Most of us are working when that show airs, but clearly a lot of people caught it and began reposting the interaction.

This is his face live on TV:

The discussion centered around Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and all the buzz surrounding the WNBA right now. Mainly, people are talking about how the white point guard, who was a superstar in college women’s basketball, has uplifted the sport.

To me, this is a good thing, but there is a tinge of racism that goes along with it. It could be that she’s just an amazing ballplayer. Or it could be that she’s an amazing white player for mainstream and middle America. Don’t get mad at me. This is just how I see it. At any rate, the energy is electric and everybody is in. I have to admit, I am too.

So, Monica McNutt and Stephen A. Smith had an interaction, and she read him for filth, as they say. She basically said that he could have been covering women’s basketball, specifically the WNBA, for years but didn’t. She essentially embarrassed him. I believe he was embarrassed, at least. To add insult to injury, you could see that the other hosts of the show were stunned by this “read.” Her face was like, “What?”

Apparently, they had a conversation, and the rumor is she apologized to him. I have to admit, I don’t think she was especially disrespectful. I do think she sonned him in front of the world. But I think it was really gender-related as far as that sonning was concerned. If it was a man doing the talking, I don’t think it would be as big of a deal. I think because it was a woman, and a Black woman at that, it amplified what happened. This was like getting burned at lunchtime in front of the whole school.

Did she deserve to apologize? If she did, I don’t think so. I hope and pray she didn’t apologize. I simply don’t think it was that bad of an interaction. I just think Stephen A. was rendered speechless for once. At the end of the day, there were fears that Monica McNutt would get fired or eventually phased out because of this interaction. That saddened me, so if the apology prevented that from happening, then I guess it was warranted. We want to see this beautiful Black queen on our airways every day or as much as possible.

Here is the epilogue: