It didn’t take long for Stephen A. Smith to apologize for his Monday comments on Shohei Ohtani’s viability as the face of baseball in America.
“Let me be the first to stand up and say that I want to express my sincere apologies to the Asian community and the Asian-American community,” Smith said on First Take. “I am a Black man. I religiously go off about minorities being marginalized in this nation. I instantly go off, repeatedly bring up the fact that if you are a member of a community that feels disenfranchised in any way, that’s something we need to battle, we need to fend off to the best of our ability as a nation.”
Smith questioned Ohtani’s ability to act as the face of baseball because he is still learning how to speak English (fluently).
“I don’t think it helps that the number one face, is a dude that needs an interpreter so you can understand what the hell he’s saying, in THIS COUNTRY,” Smith said Monday morning on First Take.
Smith stumbled on his attempts to apologize throughout the afternoon on Monday. Yet, he was sincere on Tuesday and, more importantly, listened to the perspectives of different guests throughout the first hour.
ESPN’s Joon Lee was quick to condemn Smith’s comments on Twitter yesterday, and fans got to see Lee give an in-depth take to Smith and the rest of the cast in the first hour. Check out a snippet of the appearance below.
All in all, Smith was raw and sincere on Tuesday during one of the more memorable hours of First Take. It would’ve been easy for the highest-paid media talent at ESPN to tweet out an apology and move on as nothing happened. Smith didn’t take the easy way out. Instead, he educated himself and the audience in the process. A rarity in today’s cancel culture climate.
“The reason that I bring up my Blackness is because of this,” Smith said. “On many occasions, what I have said when people have said something that is offensive, in any way, to the minority community, it’s not about how you feel. It is about how they feel.”
“The reality of the situation is that you have Asians and Asian Americans out there that obviously was very, very offended by what I had to say yesterday,” Smith continued. “I just want to look into the camera and extend my sincere apologies. That was not my intent. I’m not going to get into all that. I do understand that a lot of racists out there are quick to say that is not my intent. That’s not where I am going. I was wrong.”
