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Last week, former ESPN personality Michelle Beadle blasted Stephen A. Smith, openly admitting that she is “praying” for his downfall. On Friday, Smith fired back without mentioning Beadle by name. On Monday, he took direct aim at her in another rant.
“He doesn’t even give a s— about the stuff that he’s paid a gazillion dollars to talk about,” Michelle Beadle said last week on her show, Beadle and Decker. “Now he’s turning around and turning that into a money-making opportunity. Then the money-making opportunity looks like it’s a fraudulent crap business to begin with.
“Honestly, I’m not a religious person, but I pray for the downfall. I really do. It’s gross, man, you gotta have principles in this thing.”
Stephen A. Smith heard what Michelle Beadle said about him
On Friday, Stephen A. Smith clapped back on his SiriusXM show. While not specifically mentioning Michelle Beadle by name, it was pretty apparent who he was discussing.
“I hear people talking about me on SiriusXM and who they would have preferred and who they would have wanted or whatever. I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Awful Announcing reports Smith said. “I’ve been blessed and fortunate that when I’m doing stuff in this industry, I win.
“You got some people that were in this business and they talk smack now cause they can’t get a job in the business cause they didn’t do a good enough job when they were in the business so now they gotta talk smack and their reputation is they’re talking to people. Well, what you got going on? It’s all of that that comes with it, because somewhere along the way, they didn’t do what it took to resonate continuously. And that’s why they’re on the outside looking in… they don’t have a job in the industry. Don’t think they don’t want one. They do. They just didn’t know how to act, and they didn’t know how to be productive enough to keep a job.
“Some of these podcasts, some of the stuff that you see them saying, they ain’t even talking about things, they are talking about people because they don’t have to do real work. They can find a way to get clicks and make money that way cause they can’t make money any way else. Those people, you let them keep talking and you feel bad for them from time to time cause that’s how desperate they’ve become. And they know who they are. And so do you.”
Stephen A. Smith takes personal shots at Michelle Beadle
On Monday, Stephen A. Smith not only mentioned Michelle Beadle by name in another rant. He also added that those close to him asked him not to respond to Beadle comments. He did anyway.
“I’ve instructed everybody to stand down because the s— that I’ve heard talked about regarding me, my character, my career, my work ethic. You wanted my attention. You got it,” Smith began. He then made a statement that was provided to him by his lawyer regarding the controversial solitaire app he and other ESPN broadcasters were promoting.
“That is all I am allowed to say at this particular moment in time,” Smith continued. He then went on about how he barely knows Beadle and hasn’t spent more than a minute ever speaking with her so the beef is all on-sided.
“She was pretty good at her job,” he continued. “So why are you stuck with a podcast with 2500 subscribers on Instagram? What happened to ESPN? What happened to NBC? FS1 want you? CBS want you. Where you at? What you doing? You’re at FanDuel.”
Smith went on to say, “I know why you’re gone. I know why you ain’t back. I know why you can’t go to other networks. And the sad part about it is because it’s all because of that stank-a– attitude. Evil. You pray for my downfall. First of all, congratulations. Because I didn’t know you prayed. I had no clue. I didn’t know you were capable of such a thing.”
The ball is now in Michelle Beadle’s court. Knowing her, it won’t be long before she responds.