Stephen A. Smith had to do some damage control this week after Alexis Ohanian directly called him out regarding his previous comments about tennis legend Serena Williams earlier this year.
Smith recently stated that there is no bad blood between Williams and Ohanian and that he gets wanting to stand up for one’s wife in public.
“Glad that it didn’t escalate or anything like that. He is her husband. He loves her dearly,” Smith stated.
“They have two wonderful children together and I have absolutely no issue with him whatsoever wanting to address that situation with me because that’s her husband and I certainly meant no disrespect towards him at all,” Smith explained.
“The point is that I respect him. That’s her husband. That’s his wife and evidently he didn’t like what I said,” he further elaborated.
Stephen A Smith finally responds to him getting check… again
and it’s as gentle as you think pic.twitter.com/uPliiAT424
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) October 13, 2025
The situation unfolded when Williams performed a surprise cameo during the Super Bowl earlier this year with Kendrick Lamar during the halftime show. Williams joined Lamar on stage for “Not Like Us,” which was considered a diss to Drake, and supposedly trolling Drake, especially considering past rumors regarding Williams and Drake.
The day after the Super Bowl, Smith discussed the incident on his show called First Take and made comments regarding Williams and her actions on stage. Smith questioned Williams’ decision and insisted it was trolling former ex Drake. He said that if his wife was going to troll her ex, she might as well go back to him, because it was clear she didn’t belong to him.
“If I’m your husband, I’m thinking, ‘Why are you up there trolling him? Trolling your ex?’ If my wife is going to troll her ex, go back to his ***. Because clearly you don’t belong with me,” Smith remarked.
Stephen A. Smith on Serena Williams’ cameo during the Super Bowl halftime show: “If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his ass. ‘Cause clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.” pic.twitter.com/uiYI2ltK4k
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 10, 2025
Meanwhile Williams, fresh from retirement after the 2022 season, has made a transition into business and family. Recently she launched her clothing collection with Janie and Jack – Serena Williams x Janie and Jack – which is inspired by her daughters, Olympia and Adira.
Alexis Ohanian Confronts Stephen A. Smith On First Take
When Ohanian appeared on First Take, he got straight to the point, wasting no time addressing Smith’s comments about his wife. Ohanian called out the commentator and implied that Smith wasn’t qualified to give marriage advice whilst also referring to Smith’s marital status and then indirectly informed him to stay in his lane.
“Stephen A. Smith, I think you had some marriage advice for me. Is that right?,” Ohanian began saying on First Take.
“You hadn’t been married before, right? I 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,” he further elaborated.
“You hadn’t been married before, right? Cause I 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.” – Alexis Ohanian just checked Stephen A. Smith https://t.co/YghAXHoMrR pic.twitter.com/lks6l9zPEI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 9, 2025
Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder and former chairman of Reddit, continues to invest in women’s sports with his firm, Seven Seven Six, and as part owner of Angel City FC.
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