On Friday’s edition of First Take on ESPN2, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless were discussing the NFL’s two-game suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice when for some reason, Smith said women should do their best not to provoke violence:
But domestic violence or whatever the case may be, with men putting their hands on women, is obviously a very real, real issue in our society. And I think that just talking about what guys shouldn’t do, we got to also make sure that you can do your part to do whatever you can do to make, to try to make sure it doesn’t happen. We know they’re wrong. We know they’re criminals. We know they probably deserve to be in jail. In Ray Rice’s case, he probably deserves more than a 2-game suspension which we both acknowledged. But at the same time, we also have to make sure that we learn as much as we can about elements of provocation. Not that there’s real provocation, but the elements of provocation, you got to make sure that you address them, because we’ve got to do is do what we can to try to prevent the situation from happening in any way. And I don’t think that’s broached enough, is all I’m saying. No point of blame.
After Michelle Beadle called him out on Twitter, Smith at first doubled down trying to explain his comments and made more of a mess.
It left ESPN holding the bag and after a weekend of stewing, First Take producers notified the world late Sunday afternoon that Smith would make a comment at the beginning of today’s show regarding his comments. The three minute segment taped in advance had Smith apologizing for his comments and host Cari Champion telling the audience that the show would “communicate better.”
In addition to the above video, ESPN has released the following statement on the matter:
“We will continue to have constructive dialogue on this important topic. Stephen’s comments last Friday do not reflect our company’s point of view. As his apology demonstrates, he recognizes his mistakes and has a deeper appreciation of our company values.”
After the segment, the show went to discuss LeBron James changing his number from “6” when he was with the Miami Heat to “23” as he rejoins the Cleveland Cavaliers. Instead of further discussing what he said or even inviting Beadle on the show, First Take went back to business as usual. I don’t think the show learned anything from Smith’s comments. Instead, more contrived debate that causes people to hurl.
Apparently, there will be no disciplinary action taken against Smith and it appears the statement is the last we’ll hear on the matter unless this rears its ugly head again.
