Stephen A. Smith Slams BET Awards For Including O.J. Simpson In 2024 In Memoriam
Stephen A. Smith let it all out regarding BET including the late O.J. Simpson in their “In Memoriam” segment of the 2024 BET Awards.
The sports commentator spoke of Simpson’s accomplishments, but focused more so on his past accusations of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in 1994. He called out BET for contradicting the segment, which is supposed to pay tribute to “Black excellence.”
The network rightfully acknowledged Simpson as a “former NFL Player,” but it didn’t stop the audience from gasping and buzzing when his face turned up on the screen.
“Did y’all see the in-memoriam segment paying tribute to quote, ‘Black excellence,’ that we unfortunately lost this year?” Smith said on his eponymous show. “There was a notable silence from the crowd when the image of O.J. Simpson appeared on the big screen. You may recall O.J. Simpson died this past April after a battle with cancer. Yes, he is known for being a Hall of Famer on the football field out of USC, and ultimately with the Buffalo Bills in his NFL career, but he was also accused of double murder!”
“O.J. was acquitted of those charges in 1995, but later found liable for their deaths a few years later in a civil trial,” Smith continued. “The families of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman obviously criticized the BET Awards for paying tribute to Simpson. As well they should, I don’t blame them one bit.”
He also went on to mention Cam’ron and Ma$e, who had brought on Simpson for an episode of their It Is What It Is podcast this year.
“In the eyes of most people, regardless of an acquittal, O.J. Simpson is a double-murderer. He was ostracized and considered a pariah by the vast majority of American citizens,” he continued. “I love Mase and I love Cam’ron, and I know what respect they have for O.J., I’m not casting any aspersions on anybody like that. They have their relationship with them and that’s their business, more power to them.”
“My attitude is this: O.J. Simpson never gave a sh*t about Black people until he was indicted. Never gave a damn.” He then repeated Simpson’s infamous quote, “I’m not Black, I’m O.J.” to double down on his point.
“I’m looking at it from the standpoint of, how should the family of Carl Weathers feel? How should the family of Bill Cobbs [feel]?” he inquired. “He was a legendary figure. How’s his family supposed to feel when they’re mentioned in the same breath as O.J. Simpson? Think about that for a second.”
Smith made it clear that “God will deal with Simpson” but it was a “bad look” and “classless” of the BET Awards to include him. See below.
