Stephen A. Smith believes his critics are trying to cancel him for saying it would have been nice of Bad Bunny to perform at least part of the Super Bowl halftime show in English.<\/p>\n
Smith was very complimentary of Bad Bunny after his Super Bowl LX halftime show. As we pointed out in our first post on Smith\u2019s reaction to Bad Bunny\u2019s performance, Smith liked the show, he loves the Spanish language, and he thought the whole thing was a vibe. But as we also pointed out in our first post on Smith\u2019s reaction to Bad Bunny\u2019s performance, he agreed with President Donald Trump by saying, \u201cIt would have been nice if some of the songs were in English.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHere\u2019s my only reticence, you\u2019re in the United States of America, and you perform damn-near an entire performance in Spanish,\u201d Smith said on his Monday SiriusXM Radio show<\/a>. \u201cBut if you didn\u2019t understand Spanish, you were lost. And most Americans don\u2019t understand Spanish\u2026It was primarily in Spanish. And if most people don\u2019t understand the lyrics because you\u2019re speaking in what they deem to be a foreign language, that is a legitimate point the president made.\u201d<\/p>\n On his Tuesday show for Mad Dog Sports Radio, Smith revisited the Super Bowl LX halftime show conversation, claiming his comments have been misrepresented and accused critics of trying to get him canceled.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I said that, they got me all over the place with pictures pairing me with right-wingers talking about \u2018I was against Bad Bunny.\u2019 I was not against Bad Bunny,\u201d Smith insisted. \u201cOne lie after another after another. And ladies and gentlemen, let me say this: I honor my contracts. I\u2019m not going away. I say stuff on my political channel or my YouTube channel. Why are folks calling ESPN? I didn\u2019t say it on their airwaves.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have nothing to do with what I\u2019m saying. I own this show,\u201d Smith continued. \u201cI own both my shows, and I own my own YouTube channel. Why you constantly bringing up my day job? \u2018Stephen A. of ESPN.\u2019 Because you want to get me canceled. Why don\u2019t you bring up about me on SiriusXM? Because you know there\u2019s no way in hell Scott Greenstein or SiriusXM is going to cancel me. We live in a society where people are sitting up there looking at it, and it\u2019s like, \u2018Yo, if you disagree with somebody, that\u2019s a reason to go scorched earth on them,\u2019 as if they committed a crime. That\u2019s what these soft-ass, irrelevant, nonproductive people try to do. It\u2019s not appropriate to say on SiriusXM, I\u2019m gonna say it anyway, they can kiss my ass.\u201d<\/p>\n We also live in a world where sports entertainers can go scorched earth on an athlete, as Smith has proved throughout his career with\u00a0Kwame Brown,<\/a>\u00a0Kyrie Irving<\/a>,\u00a0LeBron James,<\/a> and others.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m talking about people willing to use fake stuff and lies to start stuff; they can kiss my ass,\u201d Smith ranted. \u201cAnd I want to state this because I know there\u2019s some people that have reached out to employers and people who run platforms like SiriusXM and ESPN, looking to create noise for me. Let me be very clear in this regard as well: I\u2019m not here to be your friend. I speak my truth, I tell you how I feel, and then I give you the platform to express what you feel, albeit respectfully.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been 30-plus years, I think I\u2019m okay. But I\u2019ll say it one more time, those who want to get at me by lying, refusing to contextualize me properly, and coming after me, you can kiss my ass,\u201d Smith repeated. \u201cIt\u2019s not gonna stop me. All it does is inspire me. It makes me louder, it makes me more energetic, it makes me more fearless because I refuse to bow to your sorry asses.\u201d<\/p>\n