Stephen A. Smith defended his claim that he would divorce Serena Williams for her Super Bowl appearance by essentially saying, ‘it’s not her, it’s me.’
To recap, Williams played a brief role in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show Sunday evening, specifically during the song Not Like Us, which is also a diss track directed at his music rival Drake. Williams’ appearance garnered a lot of attention, not because of her dance moves, but because she was romantically involved with Drake more than a decade ago.
Knowing the backstory to her appearance, Stephen A. Smith boldly claimed he would divorce Serena Williams for still seeming concerned with trolling her ex. And on the latest episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, he defended that stance, admitting it says more about him than it does about her.
“I didn’t utter a disrespectful word toward Serena Williams,” Smith said. “So I don’t know where the whole Serena protection protocol kicks in. I didn’t say anything about her…What I expressed, is exactly what I meant. I’m not apologizing for it. I’m not condoning it either.”
“Some men are insecure. Now that’s breaking news supposedly! I kinda thought y’all automatically knew that,” Smith said. “Me and the men that I know, most men, we’re a bit insecure. When we see energy expressed in the direction of another dude, even if it’s vitriol, even if it’s venom, even if it’s hate, even if it’s get back. Whatever it is, you ever heard the saying, the true end of any relationship isn’t love, nor is it hatred. It’s indifference…the men I know, tend to think along the lines of, ‘my woman wouldn’t have any time to be expending any kind of energy like that because she’s happy with me.’”
But it’s the Super Bowl. Serena Williams was invited to take part in a Super Bowl halftime show that was watched by more than 130 million people. Sure, her cameo was viewed as a slight directed at her ex. But it’s not like Williams is all-consumed with getting back at Drake. It was the Super Bowl. How and why is she supposed to say no to that?
