Twitter is exploding today in rage this afternoon after Stephen A Smith said some really not-smart things about domestic violence this morning and the “elements of provocation.”
Sorry, Stephen A: There is no such thing as “elements of provocation” when it comes to domestic violence. That implies “they had it coming to them,” which is horseshit. Victim-blaming for crimes committed against them is never cool. No one — man or woman — deserves to be treated abusively — be it physical or emotional — in a relationship.
Here’s a transcript of his rant via Deadspin:
It’s not about him, then. It’s about you, and here’s what I mean by that. We keep talking about the guys. We know you have no business putting your hands on a woman. I don’t know how many times I got to reiterate that. But as a man who was raised by women, see I know what I’m going to do if somebody touches a female member of my family. I know what I’m going to do, I know what my boys are going to do. I know what, I’m going to have to remind myself that I work for the Worldwide Leader, I’m going to have to get law enforcement officials involved because of what I’m going to be tempted to do. But what I’ve tried to employ the female members of my family, some of who you all met and talked to and what have you, is that again, and this what, I’ve done this all my life, let’s make sure we don’t do anything to provoke wrong actions, because if I come, or somebody else come, whether it’s law enforcement officials, your brother or the fellas that you know, if we come after somebody has put their hands on you, it doesn’t negate the fact that they already put their hands on you. So let’s try to make sure that we can do our part in making sure that that doesn’t happen. Now you got some dudes that are just horrible and they’re going to do it anyway, and there’s never an excuse to put your hands on a woman. But domestic violence or whatever the case may be, with men putting their hands on women, is obviously a very real, real issue in our society. And I think that just talking about what guys shouldn’t do, we got to also make sure that you can do your part to do whatever you can do to make, to try to make sure it doesn’t happen. We know they’re wrong. We know they’re criminals. We know they probably deserve to be in jail. In Ray Rice’s case, he probably deserves more than a 2-game suspension which we both acknowledged. But at the same time, we also have to make sure that we learn as much as we can about elements of provocation. Not that there’s real provocation, but the elements of provocation, you got to make sure that you address them, because we’ve got to do is do what we can to try to prevent the situation from happening in any way. And I don’t think that’s broached enough, is all I’m saying. No point of blame.
His dumb on-air comments set Twitter off, understandably.
Stephen A. Smith’s co-worker, Michelle Beadle, the co-host of ESPN’s SportsNation, also went ALL IN on his remarks:
And here’s his response. Back-peddle much, Stephen A?
In discussing the Ray Rice ruling earlier today on @ESPN_FirstTake, me and @RealSkipBayless ventured into discussing domestic violence.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
Upon hearing what I had to say, although admitting I could’ve been more articulate on the matter, let me be clear: I don’t understand how on
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
Upon hearing what I had to say, although admitting I could’ve been more articulate on the matter, let me be clear: I don’t understand how on
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
Upon hearing what I had to say, although admitting I could’ve been more articulate on the matter, let me be clear: I don’t understand how on
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
There is absolutely no excuse to put your hands on a women. REPEATEDLY, I said dudes who do that need to be dealt with. REPEATEDLY, I echoed
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
when confronted by it in the past — when someone was stupid enough to touch a loved one of this man, raised by 4 older sisters, a mom and
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
numerous female relatives and loved ones, that man was dealt with. From that point, I simply asked: now what about the other side.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
numerous female relatives and loved ones, that man was dealt with. From that point, I simply asked: now what about the other side.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
Ugh… Back to the “prevention” thing:
Who on earth is denying that? But what about addressing women on how they can help prevent the obvious wrong being done upon them?
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
In no way was I accusing a women of being wrong. I was simply saying what that preventive measures always need to be addressed because
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
there’s only but so much that can be done after the fact….once the damage is already done. Nothing more. My apologies to @MichelleDBeadle
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
And any woman out there who misconstrued what I said. I have always — and will always — find violence against a women every bit as
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
horrific as women, themselves, find it. Always have. Always will, which my personal behavior exemplifies. I’ll strive to be more articulate
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
in the future. But be clear, I wasn’t BLAMING women for anything. I was simply saying to take all things into consideration for preventative
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014