{"id":2227544,"date":"2024-04-22T18:37:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T22:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-stephen-a-smith-slams-taylor-swift-critics-shills-for-her-during-segment-shes-earned-it\/"},"modified":"2024-04-22T18:43:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T22:43:46","slug":"watch-stephen-a-smith-slams-taylor-swift-critics-shills-for-her-during-segment-shes-earned-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-stephen-a-smith-slams-taylor-swift-critics-shills-for-her-during-segment-shes-earned-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen A. Smith Defends Taylor Swift, Supports Her &#8211; &#8216;She Deserves It"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwatch-stephen-a-smith-slams-taylor-swift-critics-shills-for-her-during-segment-shes-earned-it%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2227544&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Sports commentator\u200c Michael Schwarz highlights the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-school-district-promotes-segregated-black-parent-meeting\/\" title=\"California School District Promotes Segregated \u2018Black Parent\u2019 Meeting\">challenges faced<\/a> by middle-aged commentators when venturing into cultural subjects, often sounding\u200d preachy. Stephen\u2062 A. Smith&#8217;s defense\u200c of Taylor Swift on \u2063his podcast\u200c raised\u200b eyebrows for its departure \u2064from \u200csports, leading to mixed reactions.\u200d The segment sparked debate\u2062 on celebrities intersecting with sports \u2062coverage, questioning the boundaries of commentary.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<header> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/sports\/\">  Sports <\/a>    <span> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/michael-schwarz\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <span>   By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/michael-schwarz\/%20\"><span>Michael Schwarz<\/span><\/a> <\/span> <span>   April 22, 2024 at 12:47pm <\/span> <\/span>  <\/header>\n<section>\n<p>As a general rule, middle-aged sports commentators sound most authoritative when they comment on sports.<\/p>\n<p>Alas, when they veer into cultural topics, they often come across as preachy in the most cringe-inducing way.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, on \u201cThe Stephen A. Smith Show\u201d podcast on Friday, host Stephen A. Smith, 56, defended pop music megastar Taylor Swift against legions of exasperated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/los-angeles-county-orders-restaurants-to-keep-tvs-off-as-outdoor-dining-resumes-and-super-bowl-approaches\/\" title=\"Los Angeles County Orders Restaurants To Keep TVs Off As Outdoor Dining Resumes And Super Bowl Approaches\">sports fans<\/a> who \u2014 truth be told \u2014 have done little more than express frustration with the tabloid-style coverage Swift received during the 2023-24 NFL season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s earned it. She really has,\u201d Smith said of the respect he believes Swift deserves.<\/p>\n<p>The longtime sports writer, radio host and television personality made those comments as part of a rambling set of loosely connected observations related to other prominent female celebrities, including Kim Kardashian.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, it did not exactly ooze gravitas.<\/p>\n<p>To give Smith his due, in recent weeks he has offered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/madonna-playboy-show-more-backbone-than-us-cultural-elites-in-response-to-hamas-atrocities\/\" title=\"Madonna and Playboy exhibit more courage than US cultural elites when addressing Hamas atrocities.\">semi-reasonable<\/a> takes on a number of subjects unrelated to the current sports landscape, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-stephen-smith-lights-hillary-clinton-live-cnn-slams-telling-voters-get-vote-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hillary Clinton\u2019s<\/a> repellent statement about Democratic voters disgusted with their choices in November, the death of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-stephen-smith-torches-oj-simpson-live-air-news-death-lord-will-deal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">O.J. Simpson<\/a> and the Democrats\u2019 ongoing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-stephen-smith-lights-democrats-going-trump-scared-cant-beat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">persecution<\/a> of former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The bombastic sports commentator\u2019s Swift-related segment, however, produced nothing quite so semi-reasonable.<\/p>\n<p>Smith began by noting that, early Friday morning, Swift released her latest album, \u201cThe Tortured Poets Department.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"firefly-poll-container\">\n<p>Do you think <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shannon-sharpe-blasts-brandon-miller-for-senseless-pregame-pat-down-intro\/\" title=\"Shannon Sharpe Blasts Brandon Miller for \u201cSenseless\u201d Pregame Pat-Down Intro\">sports hosts<\/a> should stop talking about Taylor Swift?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>That album has already generated controversy. One track, for instance, has called forth ignorant and self-righteous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/taylor-swift-faces-fury-fans-sparks-backlash-racists-lyrics-many-things-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">comments<\/a> about racism in a bygone era. And another song featured Swift <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/taylor-swift-hits-new-low-compares-directly-jesus-new-album\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">comparing herself<\/a> to Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p>A third <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cmt-yanks-jason-aldeans-anti-riot-music-video-from-airwaves-amid-claims-its-pro-lynching\/\" title=\"CMT removes Jason Aldean's controversial music video for being 'pro-lynching'.\">controversial song<\/a>, in which Swift apparently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wished-dead-taylor-swift-appears-target-celeb-new-album\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dredged up<\/a> an old dispute with Kardashian, caught Smith\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow I don\u2019t understand why the hell she going after Kim Kardashian. I don\u2019t understand that. You know, going after Kim Kardashian, I\u2019m gonna have to say somethin\u2019 \u2014 I\u2019m gonna have to say something \u2019bout that,\u201d Smith said in a gibberish-filled style of speaking that grew increasingly irritating coming from a 56-year-old man.<\/p>\n<p>Smith then offered a few irrelevant observations about how rich and successful both women are.<\/p>\n<p>After noting that Swift on the album \u201calluded to being a functioning alcoholic\u201d (the lyrics to the album\u2019s song \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/Taylor-swift-fortnight-lyrics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fortnight<\/a>\u201c), Smith finally acknowledged the entire topic\u2019s tangential sports context \u2014 Swift\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-travis-kelce-gives-delusional-answer-people-pay-attention-relationship-taylor-swift\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">highly publicized<\/a> (to put it mildly) romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/travis-kelce-angers-taylor-swift-fans-reaction-pro-trump-post-stirs-major-controversy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Travis Kelce<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe looks pretty happy with my boy, Travis Kelce. He looks pretty happy as well,\u201d Smith said, referring to three-time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/chiefs-win-super-bowl-lviii-49ers-overtime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Super Bowl<\/a> champion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s been a good thing for him. And she\u2019s doing her thing because she\u2019s highly successful,\u201d Smith later added.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the part where the celebrity simp, who shills for much more famous celebrities than he, scolded the paying customers without whom neither he nor Kelce would earn a living by playing or talking about sports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we gotta stop hating on this girl,\u201d Smith insisted.<\/p>\n<p>As evidence for the respect he believes Swift has \u201cearned,\u201d Smith again cited her net worth.<\/p>\n<p> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Taylor Swift has EARNED it, stop hating\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/I5ihW8vaC7c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In sum, a minor celebrity told an audience presumably of sports fans that they should not object when a major celebrity, famous for something other than sports, begins to dominate coverage of the most popular sport in America.<\/p>\n<p>And he reasoned \u2014 at least insofar as one could discover a reasoning process \u2014 that she has earned their respect because of her success in music and spectacular wealth.<\/p>\n<p>Really?<\/p>\n<p>Stephen A. Smith should stick to sports.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p><b><i>An Important Message from Our Staff:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><span>We who work here at The Western Journal have fought for years against Big Tech and the elites who want to shut us down and then shut America down. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Make no mistake \u2014 nothing will be the same after November 2024. Will you help us fight? Will you <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>help us expose the America-hating elites<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>  who will do everything they can to steal this election? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>We\u2019re a small group of people fighting to save the country for our readers and for our own family and friends. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>Can we count on your help?<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span>At this point, Big Tech has cut off our access to 90% of advertisers. Imagine if someone took 90% of your paycheck and there was nothing you could do. They\u2019re trying to starve us out.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Donations from readers like you have literally helped keep our lights on, and <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>we need you<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>  now more than ever. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>We operate on a shoestring budget, but with that budget, we terrify the globalists. Please help us continue the fight. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>Stand with us<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>, and we will never surrender.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Thank you for reading The Western Journal and for believing in America. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>It is a pleasure to serve you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>P.S. Please don\u2019t let the America-hating left win. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>Stand with us today<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"author-info-45760\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/michael-schwarz\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<div>\n<p><label for=\"summary-tab-radio-45760\">Summary<\/label><label for=\"more-info-tab-radio-45760\">More<span> Biographical Information<\/span><\/label><label for=\"posts-tab-radio-45760\">Recent<span> Posts<\/span><\/label><label for=\"contact-tab-radio-45760\" onclick=\"if( typeof grecaptcha=='undefined' ) { let cap_s=document.createElement( 'script' ); cap_s.src='https:\/\/www.google.com\/recaptcha\/api.js?render=6LeJFcsUAAAAAPsIEqvB1EebWbZfqRUe6ebMpGy7'; document.body.appendChild( cap_s ); }\">Contact<\/label><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>  Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In sports commentary, middle-aged commentators appear authoritative discussing sports but can come off as preachy when touching on cultural matters. Stephen A. Smith faced criticism for his podcast segment where he delved into topics beyond sports, sounding cringe-worthy to some listeners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2056,"featured_media":2227545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/taylor-swift-sbs-stephen-a.-smith-for-april-22-2024.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2227544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/taylor-swift-sbs-stephen-a.-smith-for-april-22-2024.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2227544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2227545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2227544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2227544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2227544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}