After a month in which ESPN star Stephen A. Smith has been unmissable in the news, newly leaked audio appears to show a Los Angeles-based network producer commenting on the racial undertones of Smith’s on-screen persona and how he says ESPN staffers see Smith’s supposed empty-calorie approach to broadcasting.
A clip posted to Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe III’s Instagram account features a person he claims is Ryan Bertrand, who is an L.A.-based assignment editor at ESPN. The clip appears to have been secretly recorded from a conversation Bertrand had with a woman in the days since Smith signed a $100 million extension with the network and was confronted by NBA superstar LeBron James during a game in L.A.
“We have this one guy, his name is Stephen A. Smith, he plays the angry Black man on TV,” the person in the clip says. “The angry Black man stereotype is basically, you’re loud, you talk over people, what you say is not necessarily important, it’s more how loud you are and how, I guess, how you deliver your speech.”
Since the clip was published, Bertrand has deactivated his LinkedIn account and made his X account private.
Beyond the “angry Black man” character, the person in the clip says Smith plays for ESPN; the person also criticizes Smith’s recent embrace of news talk and political commentary. They say Smith has “no idea” about issues like the Israel-Hamas conflict and only comments on these issues to “create attention.”
“He goes on Fox News probably like once a week, and he’ll about, like, Gaza. And he has no idea about Gaza,” the person in the clip says. “He’s talking about, like, his views on Gaza, and we’re like, ‘Brother, you were just talking about the Lakers three hours ago. What do you know about Gaza?'”
However, the person that O’Keefe claims is Bertrand ultimately emphasizes that Smith is paid well by the network despite these alleged shortcomings. So, the person stops short of hammering Smith too hard despite claiming that ESPN staffers believe Smith is “crazy.”
“[ESPN staff] just think he’s crazy, just trying to create attention, you know? Which is his job, I guess,” the person says. “He gets paid a lot of money to … create chaos, create controversy, like an argument. That’s his job, basically.”
Last year, O’Keefe’s operation released audio allegedly showing a Washington Commanders’ executive crassly describing the religious and racial background of the team’s players while on a Hinge date. The team suspended and later fired VP of content Rael Enteen over the remarks.
ESPN has not commented on the alleged incident. Neither Smith nor Bertrand have commented publicly.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.