Stephen A. Smith Screen grab: The Stephen A. Smith Show
By Ben Axelrod on

The 66th annual Grammy Awards took place on Sunday night. And one of the biggest non-Taylor Swift stories to come out of the event wasn’t something that happened on stage, but rather the arrest of rapper Killer Mike (real name: Michael Render).

At this point, details regarding the circumstances of Mike’s arrest are sparse. According to the Associated Press, Mike — who won three Grammy Awards on Sunday night — was taken into the custody and booked on a misdemeanor battery charge as the result of an altercation that had occurred at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, which was hosting the award show.

News of Killer Mike’s arrest was only amplified by viral footage of the rapper being escorted out of the arena in handcuffs. Taking to social media on Sunday night, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith weighed in on the matter, questioning why Mike was arrested mid-award show if Will Smith was left alone after punching Chris Rock on stage at the Academy Awards in 2022.

“Yea, I’m looking forward to @FirstTake in the AM, but that ain’t on my mind right now,” Smith wrote at 12:15 a.m. ET. “Riddle me this: How in the Hell does Killer Mike get taken from the Grammy’s in HANDCUFFS for an ‘alleged Crime’ but Will Smith gets to accept his speech AND party — with no arrest — after committing one on Nat’l TV???”

Smith went on to clarify that he wasn’t calling for Will Smith — who was never criminally charged as a result of his infamous physical altercation with Rock — to be arrested, but was rather questioning why Mike’s situation was any different.

“To be clear, I am not advocating that Will should’ve gotten arrested. But that happened in LA, too. So if Will could be left alone, how come they couldn’t wait until AFTER the Grammy’s to deal with Killer Mike?” Smith wrote. “Why ruin his evening over an alleged misdemeanor but leave Will alone over a flagrant assault??? What’s different?”

The First Take host proceeded to promise to address the situation — as well as Jay-Z’s controversial acceptance speech — on Monday’s episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show.

“Warning: Viewer Discretion Is Advised!” he promised.

Considering that, as he noted, both incidents occurred in Los Angeles, Smith raises valid points. Conversely, it’s also difficult to compare the two situations without knowing much about the circumstances surrounding Mike’s arrest.

For what it’s worth, Mike’s arrest and Jay-Z’s speech weren’t the only Grammy-related matters that Smith weighed in on on Sunday night. He also used Swift’s surprise album announcement as an opportunity to become the latest sports media personality to endear himself to the Swifties.

[The Associated Press]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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