{"id":222444,"date":"2025-10-13T21:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T21:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/222444\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T21:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T21:30:08","slug":"alexis-ohanian-calls-out-stephen-a-smith-for-serena-williams-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/222444\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexis Ohanian Calls Out Stephen A. Smith For Serena Williams Comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

TV and radio personality Stephen A. Smith<\/a> was left tongue-tied last week after being gently called out by Serena Williams<\/a>\u2019 husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian<\/a>, over remarks he\u2019d made about the tennis legend\u2019s appearance at this year\u2019s Super Bowl. <\/p>\n

Appearing on ESPN\u2019s debate show \u201cFirst Take\u201d<\/a> on Oct. 9, Ohanian asked Smith point-blank about him implying he would\u2019ve split from Williams after she showcased her crip walk during Kendrick Lamar\u2019s halftime show<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cStephen A. Smith, I think you had some marriage advice for me. Is that right?\u201d said Ohanian, who shares two daughters, Olympia, 7, and Adira, 2, with Williams. <\/p>\n

Smith shrugged off the question, noting that he wasn\u2019t \u201cqualified\u201d to speak on the subject of marriage, and he and Ohanian \u201ccan get into that another time.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ohanian kept his cool, but nonetheless took another tactfully worded dig.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udccdpic.twitter.com\/7ifr7jck1n<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SOUND | Victor Baez (@itsavibe) October 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou hadn\u2019t been married before, right?\u201d he said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith, an NBA analyst for ESPN and host of \u201cThe Stephen A. Smith Show\u201d podcast, drew backlash in February when he criticized Williams<\/a> for performing alongside Lamar. The 22-time Grammy-winner included \u201cNot Like Us<\/a>,\u201d a diss track targeting<\/a> fellow rapper Drake, as part of his set. Williams reportedly dated<\/a> Drake on and off from<\/a> 2011 to 2015, before she went on to wed Ohanian in 2017. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m your husband, I\u2019m thinking, \u2018Why are you up there trolling him\u2014trolling your ex?\u2019\u201d Smith said during a \u201cFirst Take\u201d<\/a> broadcast. \u201cIf I\u2019m married, and my wife is going to troll her ex\u2014go back to his ass. Because clearly you don\u2019t belong with me. What you worried about him for?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TennisTennis legend Serena Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have been married since 2017 and share two children. <\/p>\n

When his comments on Williams were met with a flurry of criticism, Smith defended himself by claiming he was merely presenting a \u201cman\u2019s perspective\u201d and \u201chighlighting what most men would think.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI didn\u2019t utter a single disrespectful word about Serena. No issues with folks getting upset of literal serious stuff one\u2019s pissed about,\u201d he wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t qualify peeps. Come on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a short video<\/a> posted to YouTube Sunday after his on-air squabble with Ohanian went viral, Smith clarified his latest \u201cFresh Take\u201d comments further. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have absolutely no issue with him whatsoever wanting to address that situation with me, because that\u2019s her husband, and I certainly meant no disrespect toward him at all,\u201d he said. \u201cI was just saying men, knowing us as men, if we\u2019re married and our wife is showing energy toward anybody else, even in a negative way, we\u2019re asking ourselves: \u2018If you\u2019re happy, why show that energy?\u2019 That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n