J.R. Smith Wants People To Pipe Down With The Hennessy Jokes: ‘It’s Truly Enough’

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images


The “Henny God” doesn’t even like Hennessy.

In April 2020, Smith admitted on a Bleacher Report livestream that he “hates” the taste of the French cognac, after telling the Knuckleheads podcast he’s only had three glasses of Hennessy in his life.

Smith claimed that the highly-circulated photo of him taking a bottle to the face in celebration of the Cavs 2016 Finals win wasn’t actually Hennessy, but champagne.

“The funny thing is the picture that everybody talks about with me drinking Henny, it’s a champagne bottle,” he said. “So, I don’t even know how that even came about.”

NBA Twitter did what it does, and The Hennessy narrative became a runaway train of memes, photoshops, and GIFs.

But now that the 35-year-old is enrolled at North Carolina A&T in pursuit of a liberal arts degree, Smith believes this noble endeavor should not be smeared with shallow insults.

In response to a viral clip of J.R. walking the hallways accompanied with the caption: ‘This man J.R. really go to my college. He probably off the henny right now,’ the two-time NBA champion took a shot at the House of Highlights account that helped amplify it.

Ight that Henny shit really not funny tho can ya’ll try a different joke! Not really mad at the kid they gone say whatever but @houseofhighlights the disrespect ya’ll post it’s truly enough. As a black man in America you still can’t move on from the bullshit that people continue to put on your name! Not one positive post about going to school and trying to myself! Ya’ll make it look so weak/corney to inspire people to want to do better you consistently bring up an post bullshit.

Smith has a point. The internet was way over its skis with the Henny jokes.

I’m perfectly fine with rebranding J.R. Smith as an academic and a collegiate golfer. You should be too.

Matt Keohan Avatar
Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.