Cam Newton may have crossed a red line yet again.<\/p>\n
Last week, the former NFL MVP did what very few hosts in sports media are willing to do these days, inviting ex-ESPN and Fox Sports commentator Jason Whitlock onto his podcast\u00a04th and 1 to discuss their differences. And while the majority of the conversation focused on Whitlock\u2019s regressive takes about Newton\u2019s fashion and masculinity, Whitlock also saved some time for his favorite enemy in the industry: Stephen A. Smith.<\/p>\n
Reinvigorating a nasty feud that went off the rails last spring<\/a>, Whitlock accused Smith of lying about his background on several fronts. As a result, Smith saved a portion of his recorded response to Whitlock for Newto<\/a>n, whom he has in recent seasons made a regular contributor to First Take.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re gonna bring me up and you\u2019re somebody that\u2019s in my inner circle and you talk to me, grill them,\u201d Smith said to Newton. \u201cDon\u2019t just let them talk smack.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith also revealed he will be joining Newton\u2019s YouTube show for an interview soon.<\/p>\n While we wait for that conversation, Newton and producer Omari \u201cPeggy\u201d Collins posted their own response to the backlash they received from Smith and others online for the Whitlock interview. In a 20-minute rebuttal<\/a>, Newton insisted that he merely facilitated a conversation that Whitlock was already perpetuating on his own platforms \u2014 and that it is not up to him to fact check guests or filter content for his audience.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot allow people to come on your platform and you control how it goes. You only can allow them to speak their truth how they know their truth to be,\u201d Newton said. \u201cAnd if you don\u2019t know, you can respectfully say, \u2018I don\u2019t know if this is true or not.\u2019 So when Stephen A. says, \u2018You didn\u2019t hammer down on the question.\u2019 I didn\u2019t know that it was a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n Collins personally took the blame for the idea of hosting Whitlock on\u00a04th and 1.<\/p>\n Around the same time the video was posted to Newton\u2019s YouTube channel, fellow\u00a0First Take regular Ryan Clark added to the criticism toward Newton in a post on X.<\/p>\n