Stephen A. Smith

O'Reilly Discusses 'Black Lives Matter' Funding, Including Soros and Supporters Jay-Z and Beyoncé
By Tom Blumer | July 29, 2015 | 11:04 PM EDT

On his Tuesday night show, with the help of Kelly Riddell of the Washington Times, Bill O'Reilly of Fox News described how the "Black Lives Matter" movement sustains itself. The rest of the press wants readers, listeners and viewers to presume that it is a self-sustaining, grass-roots movement. It isn't.

O'Reilly also noted that megastars Jay-Z and Beyoncé, numbers 28 and 29, respectively, on the Forbes list of top-paid celebrities, are supporting the movement, which describes itself as "grass-roots" but is really the ultimate in Astroturf. Also at the end of this post, following up on one I did on ESPN's Stephen A. Smith last week, I have posted Smith's original six-minute radio-show rant on how selective and tyrannical the movement is.

Now ESPN's Stephen A. Smith Is Catching Flak for Insisting That 'All Lives Matter'
By Tom Blumer | July 21, 2015 | 7:31 PM EDT

ESPN analyst and reporter Stephen A. Smith, apparently in reaction to seeing anyone who dares to say the words "all lives matter" in succession getting mercilessly attacked, pushed back hard today against the censorship and intimidation of the "Black Lives Matter" crowd in three tweets. The first: "Where is all the noise about #BlackLivesMatter when black folks are killing black folks?" The second: "There's nothing wrong when a presidential candidate says 'All lives Matter'!" The third: "I'm a black man. Of course I know #BlackLivesMatter. You can't boo a presidential candidate just b/c he says 'all lives matter'."

Only in the la-la land of the perpetually aggrieved would someone saying that "All lives matter" be interpreted as really meaning that they don't genuinely believe that black lives matter. But, as would be expected, Smith, who is black, is catching flak for this, just as he did when he went on the air and ranted against those who blame all of their woes in life on racism in May of last year. That video will appear at the end of this post. 

CNN Yawns at Cuomo Witness Tampering Scandal; Covers Firing of Marching Band Director
By Matthew Balan | August 1, 2014 | 5:10 PM EDT

As of 5pm ET on Friday, August 1, CNN has yet to cover the investigation into New York Governor Andrew Cuomo over his possible obstruction of a commission trying to expose political corruption in the Empire State's government. Instead, New Day, the network's morning show (which is co-anchored by the governor's brother, Chris Cuomo) has covered seemingly more important stories, such as the controversy surrounding the NFL's two-game suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.

The New York Times broke the Cuomo investigation on July 23. Since then, the only Big Three morning or evening newscast to cover the story has been CBS This Morning. The morning show aired a full report on Friday about the possible witness tampering. Fox News Channel's Carl Cameron also covered the scandal on Friday's Happening Now: [video below the jump]

AP, ESPN, and the League Itself Don't Like the Lack of 'Diversity' in This Year's Coaching Changes
By Tom Blumer | January 19, 2013 | 12:06 PM EST

There were eight coaching changes in the National Football League during the past few weeks. It must be assumed in the absence of contrary evidence that each franchise's owners made their choice based on who they believe has the best chance to take their team to the playoffs and Super Bowl.

The "problem" is, according to league's human resource people (are those really full-time jobs?) and their eager supporters at the Associated Press and ESPN, all eight new coaches are white. As a result, barely four months after the league earned a "high diversity hiring grade" from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport ("its third consecutive A grade on racial hiring and its first C-plus for gender hiring"), the "Rooney Rule," which requires that teams interview at least one at least one minority candidate for head coaching and top managerial jobs, is not good enough (bolds are mine):

USA Today Ignores Anti-Religious Hatred of Tebow
By Paul Wilson | December 6, 2011 | 4:16 PM EST

Many journalists recognize that Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow has become a lightning rod for religious conflict in America. What some columnists seem less willing to recognize is the intense hatred that he has engendered among those offended by his Christianity.

A Dec. 6 USA Today article by Reid Cherner, "Why Tebow Stirs Debate," acknowledged that Tebow's very public expressions of faith have caused intense religious controversy, and made some people uncomfortable. Cherner also quoted former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer criticizing Tebow for excessively preaching his outspoken religious faith.

CNN's Spitzer: Obama Supports the 'Agenda For Choice in Schools'
By Matthew Balan | December 21, 2010 | 9:24 PM EST

CNN's Eliot Spitzer misleadingly claimed on Tuesday's Parker Spitzer that "President Obama has done everything to push the agenda for choice in schools" [audio available here]. In reality, the President's record shows that he has actually worked against school choice, particularly in the District of Columbia.

Spitzer and co-host Kathleen Parker brought on Stephen A. Smith, an African-American talk radio host, during the lead segment of the 8 pm Eastern hour to discuss his view that the black community should "play hard to get" with the Democratic Party, as the on-screen graphic summed it. Midway through the segment, the former Democratic governor of New York acted as the defender of the Obama administration's record on education: "It seems to me that President Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan- 'Race to the Top,' [is] embracing the things from Michelle Rhee's reform agenda, to Joel Klein's reform agenda, getting quality teachers into the schools - all those things."

Smith retorted strongly that the Democrats don't have a spotless record on the issue:

[Video embedded below the page break]

'An Absolute Disgrace': CNN's Parker Spitzer Finds Blast of Dissent Against Tax-Evading Rangel
By Tim Graham | December 5, 2010 | 7:52 AM EST

While the "objective" network newscasts strenuously sought to hornswoggle the public into thinking everyone in Washington was sympathetic to unethical tax-evading liberal Rep. Charlie Rangel getting censured on the House floor for 45 seconds, CNN's Parker Spitzer asked about Rangel on Thursday night and received a dissenting blast from sports journalist Stephen A. Smith, who called him an “absolute disgrace” and said “I'm done with him.”

Former Air America host Sam Seder, so enraged by the corruption of the Bushies, was just as partisan in insisting Rangel didn't commit a crime and shouldn't receive a censure and was “open with the committee.” Eliot Spitzer didn't want to dwell too long on the ethical-politician subject:

SPITZER: All right, guys. Does he persuade you? Should Charlie be shown the exit or has Charlie persuaded you he deserves to continue on fighting for central Harlem?

SMITH: Well, I'm not going to sit there and say he deserves to be shown the exit, but he certainly hasn't convinced me. I think it's an absolute disgrace that he, of all people, conducted himself in this fashion.

CNN's Cooper: I Didn't Use False Limbaugh Quotes
By Matthew Balan | October 15, 2009 | 2:54 PM EDT

CNN’s Anderson Cooper became the first on his network to acknowledge that some of the quotes used against Rush Limbaugh in his NFL bid were false on his program on Wednesday: “I also should point out, on this program, we did not use the wrong quotes.” Cooper also brought back Al Sharpton as a guest, and the activist again brought up Limbaugh’s “Crips and Bloods” remark, which he took out of context [audio clips are available here].

The CNN anchor began by noting how the talk show host had been forced out of his part in buying the St. Louis Rams by the controversy: “Tonight, breaking news: Rush Limbaugh sidelined, his bid to buy into the National Football League sacked. What happened, and is it fair?” After giving a recap of the controversy, Cooper introduced his guests- Sharpton; Stephen A. Smith, whose has consistently expressed sympathy for talk show host’s bid; and talk show host McGraw Milhaven from St. Louis.
                    
Cooper first hinted that the slavery quote attributed to Limbaugh was false in one of his questions to Smith: “Was the criticism fair, though? Some of the quotes attributed to him- you used one of them about the slavery- that was not something he ever said.” Smith acknowledged his hasty use of the quote, but continued that the talk show host was still a racially-divisive figure:
Sportswriter: Black NFLers Claiming They Won't Play for Rush 'Are Lying Through Their Teeth'
By Noel Sheppard | October 12, 2009 | 12:37 AM EDT

Sportswriter Stephen A. Smith says the black football players claiming they wouldn't play for a team that conservative talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh owned "are lying through their teeth. They're walking hypocrites."

This occurred Saturday on CNN's "Your Money."

Smith also claimed that what Limbaugh said about Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb a few years ago shouldn't disqualify him from owning an NFL team (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t Story Balloon):

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on Hardball: 'Giuliani is a Dictator!'
By Geoffrey Dickens | January 21, 2008 | 6:19 PM EST

Appearing on Monday night's edition of "Hardball," ESPN host and Philadelphia Inquirer sports reporter Stephen A. Smith declared himself not to be a fan of Rudy Giuliani. When asked by Chris Matthews about what he thought of the former New York mayor's chances to become President, Smith blurted: "It'd be a disaster!....Giuliani is a dictator as far as I'm concerned."

Video (1:26): Windows Media (2.66 MB) and MP3 audio (650 kB).

The following exchange occurred on the January 21, edition of "Hardball":