Producers for the BET Awards last weekend made the controversial choice to include the late O.J. Simpson in an “in memoriam” segment during the show. In a lengthy rant on Tuesday, Stephen A Smith attacked the decision-makers at BET and Paramount for the decision.
In an episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith said he was “absolutely flabbergasted” at the “classless” choice by BET to include Simpson. Smith reminded his audience that Simpson was not only held liable of two murders in a civil trial but also was, in Smith’s opinion, not the Black icon many wanted him to be.
“Clearly [the audience] didn’t approve of that. Clearly most people were shocked by that. And they should be,” Smith said. “In the eyes of most people, regardless of an acquittal, O.J. Simpson is a double murderer.”
Smith gave a nod to other Black celebrities, including hip hop veterans turned sports media figures Cam’ron and Ma$e, who hosted Simpson as a recurring guest on their show last football season, who believe Simpson was innocent and a Black luminary. However, Smith said he believes Simpson cared little for his identity as a Black man.
“My attitude is this: O.J. Simpson never gave a s*** about Black people until he was indicted,” Simpson said. “Forget the fact that in memoriam he was celebrated, he was mentioned … this is the BET Awards.”
While Smith was careful to praise BET’s executives for their work running the network and the production company that helped put on the awards, he came down hard on their choice to include Simpson.
“We’ve got to call it like we see it. There’s just no reason to celebrate this man,” Smith added. “OK, yeah, he should rest in peace. We should never talk about him again.
“Here’s the bigger issue: We should never be given a reason to talk about him again. We certainly shouldn’t be celebrating O.J. Simpson. I’m sorry. Not when two people were damn near decapitated and he was the prime suspect.”
Smith acknowledged Simpson is not the only Black man striving for the carefree lifestyle of the rich and famous, or what some could call a “white” lifestyle. But Smith used himself as an example of a successful, wealthy Black man who has never hid from his ethnicity and what that means as an American.
“We’re all trying to achieve that. I know I am. But what you’ll never hear me say is, ‘I ain’t Black, I’m Stephen A.’ Oh, I’m very Black,” Smith said. “It’s never something we want to detach ourselves from. That was O.J. Simpson. And when we do s*** like this, it stains all of us, because we’re giving tacit approval to his alleged acts.”
Smith picks his targets wisely, but here he went against many prominent people in bashing Simpson openly and criticizing BET in the process.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is an Editorial Lead at Awful Announcing overseeing digital content and special projects. He lives in Phoenix and has covered sports media for Awful Announcing since 2023.