ESPN host Stephen A. Smith went on a tirade last Friday attempting to claim that he is “underpaid” compared to his white colleagues simply due to his race.
Stephen A. Smith via The Pivot Podcast YouTube
The rant came about during a discussion regarding the fact there were no U.S.-born black players competing in the World Series this year, a first for baseball since 1950. While there are no accusations or claims of racism being a factor since the occurrence was entirely coincidental for this World Series, Smith, as usual, decided to take it in that direction anyway.
“We are still black in this country,” said Smith. “We don’t trust this country in terms of meritocracy always. We know the bottom line is that just like women are underpaid compared to male counterparts, blacks are underpaid compared to white counterparts.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith says he is underpaid because he’s black
He makes $8 million a year pic.twitter.com/wffqohrmr5
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 30, 2022
“And so when you look at it from that perspective, and of course, people look at me, I’m not talking about me even though, I got news for you, I am underpaid compared to some people on television and what they get paid, but that’s a subject for another day,” Smith continued.
“I ain’t apologizing for that to a damn soul. I am underpaid. Having said all of that, it ain’t about me.”
Stephen A. Smith via SHOWTIME Basketball YouTube
Smith’s claim that he is “underpaid” compared to “some people” is odd however, since he is one of America’s top ten highest paid sports analysts sitting at number seven as of this year.
He earns a whopping $12 million from ESPN alone (earning more than several white men on the list including CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz and FOX Sports’ Skip Bayless).
Skip Bayless via Skip and Shannon: UNDISPUTED YouTube
Do you agree with Smith’s comments about people in the United State’s intentionally being “underpaid” due to their race? Let us know in the comments below.