Stephen A. Smith: ‘This year has been very, very difficult for me’

Stephen A. Smith has spent the last few years making himself ever-present and inescapable in the lives of sports fans and political conversations.

He wants you to know it’s been very, very hard on him to make himself the center of attention at all times.

Smith struck a serious tone on a recent episode of his SiriusXM show, Straight Shooter with Stephen A., as he recounted how a joke by Kevin Hart during the comedian’s Netflix roast hurt his feelings. Also, apropos of nothing, he said the Democratic Party is out to get him.

The joke in question was Hart explaining who was on his Mt. Rushmore of racism. The members were Shane Gillis, Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Smith. While Gillis was at the roast, and Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan are obvious targets as they’re aligned with MAGA and Donald Trump, Smith wasn’t present at the event.

A somber Smith explained that he was surprised that Hart, a good friend, made such a joke about him.

“I have no issue with the joke if it was a joke. If it wasn’t a joke, I still wouldn’t have an issue with it,” said Smith. “I have an issue with the fact that it came from him, somebody that I kind of know a little bit, that got a lot of love and respect for.”

Smith explained that the joke stung because he has “taken a lot of heat because of perceived positions that I may have had,” and that “at a time in my life, knowing I’ve spent my life fighting on behalf of my community, that people try to continue this narrative about me that I know is false, but that nevertheless still hurts to hear out of the mouth of anyone who knows me.”

Things took a turn when Smith said that while he has achieved so much recently, it has come at a cost, including what he claims are backroom attempts by members of the Democratic Party to silence him.

“I’m not gonna front and ignore and fail to acknowledge that this year has been very, very difficult for me,” said Smith. “From the standpoint that even though I’ve been very, very blessed and fortunate to secure my future in ways that I never thought imaginable, first at ESPN and then here at SiriusXM, the flip side to that is that I’ve taken a lot of heat because of perceived positions that I may have had. And as a result, you’ve had some people from the Democratic Party who don’t know that I’m aware of the steps and the lengths that they’ve been willing to go through to silence me, even though I’m somebody that has religiously voted Democrat and I support most Democratic views.”

Alrighty.

Smith returned to the topic of Democrats towards the end of the diatribe, attempting to explain what they had to do with any of it.

“And why do I bring up the Democratic Party? Because I know of people who were called by folks in positions of power associated with the Democratic Party for the sole express purpose of silencing me,” he said.

Smith has indeed made himself a target for ridicule, pushback, criticism, and disdain in recent years, much more so than previously. His forays into politics, including a will-he-won’t-he presidential run no one wants, have been frustrating and often appear to align him more with Republicans, some of whom see him as a “useful idiot.” His continued dominance on ESPN airwaves routinely ruffles feathers, especially as he is constantly jumping from one unnecessary feud to the next. His on-air comments about female colleagues have been criticized, and the way he talks about cities and topics he’s not an expert on often gets him in hot water. And even the people who root for the same team as him don’t really want him around.

So we suppose we can understand why the last year has been very, very difficult for Smith. We can also offer a simple solution, one that we’ve offered before, that would potentially heal all wounds: Give everybody a break from you.