Stephen A. Smith asks Cari Champion why she waited years to criticize him publicly

The ESPN star sat down with Cari Champion and Jemele Hill on their podcast, where the conversation turned to when and how grievances should be aired

Stephen A. Smith recently sat down with Cari Champion and Jemele Hill on their “Flagrant and Funny” podcast. The conversation quickly turned to the question of when and how grievances should be aired. Smith asked Champion why she waited so long to voice her criticisms of him publicly rather than bringing them to him privately while they still worked together at ESPN.

Champion responded that her silence was her way of supporting him. She said she kept their disagreements “in the family” and did not want to make her feelings public. Hill added her own perspective, noting that Smith had not reached out to her during her 2017 ESPN suspension. The exchange has drawn hundreds of thousands of views and sparked debate about professional norms, public criticism, and loyalty.

Why Now? As The Recurring Question

Stephen A.’s central question was procedural. Champion left “First Take” in 2015. If she had personal grievances, he said, why did he not hear about them until roughly a year before this taping? He presented the delay as the problem, not the existence of disagreement. A colleague with a shared history, he argued, should use the phone or have a private conversation before going public.

He also said he was not aware of how Champion felt, privately or publicly. He added that “plenty of Black women” show him “nothing but love,” distinguishing his critics from what he described as a larger set of supportive Black women. His tone was direct and slightly wounded — he expected a different protocol from someone he had worked with for years.

Smith tried to wave off “this whole First Take stuff” as a misunderstanding from the Skip Bayless era and redirect the conversation to the Black women critique, which he said he was “here for.” Champion and Hill accepted that as the live issue.

The Concept of Silence as Support

Cari Champion turned one of Stephen A. Smith’s own public lines back on him. He has argued that “silence is support.” She applied that rule to herself. Not speaking about her issues with him and being careful about what she said to other people, was her way of supporting him. She described that silence as keeping the matter “in the family” and as a decision that her feelings were “nobody’s business.”

She rejected the idea that her later public comments came “out of nowhere.” They were the product of years of working with him, watching how he talked about other Black women, and concluding that there were times he “may have misspoke about Black women” and “didn’t have [her] back.” She said she is not part of a conspiracy and does not want anyone to take him down. She said the community needs him “to be better,” because it is “detrimental for Black women” not to have more Black advocates.

When Smith said he had not heard anything, she replied that the silence was not the absence of “beef.” It was “a sign of respect.”

What Jemele Hill had to Say to Mr. Smith

Jemele Hill was present throughout, functioning as both corroborator and second complainant. She restated the “silence is support” formulation and tied it to her own experience. During her 2017 ESPN suspension after she called Donald Trump a white supremacist, Smith never called, never reached out, and never asked if she was okay.

Hill said she did not have that expectation of him and is not claiming she “felt a way” in the emotional sense. However, she said she finds it “very interesting” that he then spoke to The Washington Post in terms that, in her reading, sided with the company. She contrasted that with conservative commentator Will Cain, who did contact her.

She used that contrast to flip Smith’s own rule. He often says people should call him before they speak about him, but he did not give her that courtesy, and now he wants it from them.

Viewers on X Were Brutal in the Comments

Sentiment was mixed and often harsh, with a plurality of visible high-engagement replies siding with Smith’s procedural point: if you have a problem and you have the person’s number, say it to their face rather than years later on social media or a podcast.

One user wrote that if someone has a problem they should “let me know to my face so we can fix it” and not “wait until 10 years later to log on to your social media.” Another said that if you have the person’s number, “why I have to hear about it publicly.” Those replies treated Champion’s “silence was support” explanation as unconvincing.

Other users rejected the premise that comments about Black women are a special category. One user asked, “What is this ‘speaking about black women’ narrative about? Are black women beyond reproach?” Another argued that Champion wants a “heightened level of SENSITIVITY” for Black women that is “NEVER the same energy when black men are being discussed.”

A separate thread turned personal, with some replies calling Champion and Hill names or accusing Hill of “race grifting.” A smaller set went the other way, calling Smith “out of touch” or saying the sit-down was a grilling he had earned after the NABJ award and his comments on Kamala Harris and Jasmine Crockett.

The History Behind the Confrontation

The immediate fuse for the 2026 sit-down was a public fight that began in November 2025. Champion posted an Instagram video asking why Smith would not bring the “same energy” and “same smoke” to Michelle Beadle that he brought to Black women such as Jasmine Crockett, Michelle Obama, Champion herself, and Hill. She also revived Smith’s July 2014 First Take comments on the Ray Rice domestic-violence case, in which Smith said women should avoid “provok[ing] wrong actions.”

Smith responded with a long Straight Shooter monologue, telling Champion she should be “ashamed” and claiming she was “hired at First Take in large part because of me.” Hill then said on a separate platform that Smith taking “ownership” of the careers of Black women was “cringe” and “unbecoming.” That sequence — Beadle, Champion’s Instagram, Smith’s rant, Hill’s rebuke — is the “recently publicly voiced” conduct Smith is asking about in the clip.

A second institutional event sat in the background. Last month, the National Association of Black Journalists gave Smith its “Thumbs Down” award, citing a “recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women across politics, sports, and media.” Smith called the award a “hit job” and appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program to reject the charge.

Final Thought

The clip does not resolve the dispute. Stephen A. Smith has asked for a private accounting. Champion has given a theory of silence as loyalty. Hill has pointed out that Smith did not extend the same courtesy to her. Neither side concedes the other’s rule.

Smith’s position is individualist and procedural. A colleague who has his number should use it. Champion’s position is communal and cumulative. Silence was a gift. Public speech became necessary when she saw a pattern. Hill’s position adds institutional memory: ESPN protected its brand; Smith helped that brand more than he helped her.

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