Previously, TV personality and ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith had made certain comments about Serena Williams’ Super Bowl appearance. Last week, he found himself defending his words after being called out on-air by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams’ husband.
Ohanian joined ESPN’s debate show First Take on October 9 and took the opportunity to confront Smith about remarks he had made earlier in the year. With a calm but pointed tone, Ohanian asked, “Stephen A. Smith, I think you had some marriage advice for me. Is that right?”
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The entrepreneur’s question referred to Smith’s February comments, when the outspoken sports analyst criticized Williams for performing during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show.
During that segment, Lamar had included his hit “Not Like Us,” a track widely seen as a diss toward fellow rapper Drake, whom Williams dated on and off between 2011 and 2015 before marrying Ohanian in 2017.
At the time, Smith had said on First Take, “If I’m your husband, I’m thinking, ‘Why are you up there trolling him — trolling your ex?’ If I’m married, and my wife is going to troll her ex — go back to his [expletive language]. Because clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for?”
His remarks immediately drew backlash. Many fans and commentators accused him of disrespecting Williams. Smith later defended himself on X, writing, “I didn’t utter a single disrespectful word about Serena. No issues with folks getting upset of literal serious stuff one’s pissed about. This doesn’t qualify peeps. Come on.”
When Ohanian confronted him live on-air months later, Smith tried to sidestep the moment with humor. Smiling nervously, he replied, “I’m not qualified to speak on marriage,” then added that he and Ohanian “can get into that another time.”
Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian wanted to see Stephen A. Smith face to face on First Take, after Stephen said Serena should go back to dating Drake after dancing at Kendrick’s Super Bowl halftime📍pic.twitter.com/7ifr7jck1n
— SOUND | Victor Baez (@itsavibe) October 13, 2025
Ohanian didn’t press aggressively but made another subtle jab. Looking directly at Smith, he asked, “You hadn’t been married before, right?” Then he continued, “I give advice to plenty of founders who want to build billion-dollar companies, and the reason I do that is because I build billion-dollar companies. So I generally try to stay in my lane.”
The exchange quickly went viral, leading to renewed discussion of Smith’s earlier comments and what exactly he had meant by them.
After the clip spread widely online, Smith released a short video on YouTube to clarify his stance. In the Sunday post, he said, “I have absolutely no issue with him whatsoever wanting to address that situation with me, because that’s her husband, and I certainly meant no disrespect toward him at all.”
He further explained that his original statement was less personal than it appeared. “I was just saying men, knowing us as men, if we’re married and our wife is showing energy toward anybody else, even in a negative way, we’re asking ourselves: ‘If you’re happy, why show that energy?’ That’s it,” he said.
While Smith did try to reduce the tension that followed his on-air conversation with Ohanian, it was quite clear that netizens were mostly in support of Serena, and Smith’s unwarranted comments on her performance and marriage were criticized.
