Stephen A. Smith has taken a moment to respond to Serena Williams’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, pressing him over comments he made about her making a cameo appearance during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance.
“Serena Williams, you know, she is married to a millionaire, Alexis Ohanian, and he came on First Take today,” Smith said on The Stephen A. Smith Show. “People are talking about how he came at me, and took a sly dig because of what I said when Serena Williams went on stage performing at the Super Bowl. I’ve never met this man I wish I was in the studio today, but I’m not. … It would have been nice to meet him, I don’t know the man. I have nothing against him whatsoever.”
Smith said that he wasn’t in the studio due to a “speaking arrangement,” and that he doesn’t recall saying anything negative about Ohanian specifically.
“When Super Bowl Sunday took place, when Kendrick Lamar was performing, Serena Williams came on stage, dancing to all of that,” he continued. “According to the reports, and stuff like that, she’s the ex of Drake. Essentially, what I said was, ‘Why that energy for an ex?’ … If that was my wife, I don’t want to see that. Because of that, that’s what he was alluding to. I’m glad that it didn’t escalate or anything like that. He is her husband, he loves her dearly. They have two wonderful children together, and I have absolutely no issue with him whatsoever with him wanting to address that situation with me.”
Smith maintained that he meant “no disrespect” to Ohanian, and added that it just felt that if his wife were “showing that energy” to an ex-romantic partner, he wouldn’t like it.
“I wasn’t going to get into it on national television, I’m a professional,” he said. “If it had escalated and he wanted to get into it more, we [would’ve] kept the cameras rolling and I would’ve said, ‘Fine.’ But he was sitting there saying, ‘You wasn’t married, right?’ So, you know, you give him marital advice, that’s how he framed it. He says, ‘I give advice about building companies because what I do,’ essentially implying that I’m not married so who am I to say something like that? I think that’s a fair comment on his part. I don’t have to agree with it, but I took no offense to it.”
Smith said he would’ve been open to talking more about his comments if they were in the studio together and Ohanian wanted to, but he would stand by what he said. “Maybe in a more respectable manner than my initial reaction after Super Bowl Sunday,” he added. “I was just having fun. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, is that I respect him. That’s her husband, that’s his wife. Evidently, he didn’t like what I said, I respect it, and I wish him and his wonderful wife, who I think is the GOAT, [well].”
When Ohanian appeared on First Take last week, he jokingly pressed Smith for taking issue with Williams making an appearance during the Super Bowl Halftime Show, which led many to speculate it was her throwing shade at Drake, with whom she was previously romantically involved.
“Stephen A., I think you had some marriage advice for me,” Ohanian said. “I was hoping you were going to be here. … I was gonna ask, cause, 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, so I generally try to stay in my lane.”
When Smith talked about Williams’ cameo on First Take in February, he questioned why she would take the energy to seemingly troll Drake. "If I'm married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his ass," said Smith. “Cause clearly you don't belong with me. What you worried about him for and you're with me? Bye. Bye.”
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