Stephen A. Smith disagreed with the idea that SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly is racist because of her comments about the Black National Anthem at Super Bowl LVIII.
Before the big game, Andra Day sang the “Lift Every Voice and Sang,” which has been referred to as Black National Anthem since the early 20th century. The NFL began including the song with the Star-Spangled Banner in its pre-Super Bowl festivities in 2021.
The decision has proven to be polarizing, with some members of the media — mostly conservative — claiming the inclusion of the song is “woke” and only divides the country further. Chief among them was Kelly, who took to Twitter to claim it doesn’t belong in the Super Bowl. She faced intense backlash and accusations of racism for her comments.
Smith, however, believes those accusations were excessive.
“I’m sick and tired of folks out there — particularly in the Black community — being so quick to throw out the word ‘racism,”” Smith said. “When you throw out the word ‘racism,’ do me a favor: have more evidence before you do it so it can’t be dismissed via plausible deniability or something else.
“I don’t know Megyn Kelly at all, OK? I don’t find her statement to be racist. I find it to be, in her eyes, patriotic. I find it to be, in her eyes, self-righteous. I find her to be a bit detached from reality being faced by Black Americans everywhere. I got that part, but I can’t go in the way that I wanted to go in about her when people are out there — from my community — just throwing out the word ‘racist.’ You don’t know that about her.”
Though Smith claimed there’s no evidence to back up the accusation, Kelly has been criticized multiple times in the past for her comments on race. She famously lost her job at NBC after a segment in which she questioned the outrage from people wearing blackface on Halloween.
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