[TwoWays]

ESPN has suspended Stephen A. Smith from its TV and radio airwaves for a week following his controversial comments about Baltimore running back Ray Rice's wife, according to Sports Illustrated.
The NFL's two-game suspension of Rice was already a hotly debated topic and Smith threw gasoline on the fire, suggesting on "First Take" that Rice's then-fiancée Janay Palmer could have done something to prevent last year's alleged domestic violence incident in an Atlantic City elevator.

"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 ... 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."

Most notably, Smith's ESPN colleague Michelle Beadle drew attention to Smith's insensitive commentary.
Soon afterward, Smith unleashed another ill-conceived rant on Twitter during his first attempt at an apology, reiterating in response to Beadle on Friday, "But what about addressing women on how they can help prevent the obvious wrong being done upon them? In no way was I accusing women of being wrong. I was simply saying what that preventive measures always need to be addressed because there's only but so much that can be done after the fact ... once the damage is already done."
Given the weekend for a Third Take, Smith reformed his apology on the air Monday.
“On Friday, speaking right here on ‘First Take’ on the subject of domestic violence, I made what can only amount to the most egregious error of my career,” Smith said. “My words came across that it is somehow a woman’s fault. This was not my intent. It is not what I was trying to say.”

That apology wasn't enough to avoid suspension from his employer. ESPN president John Skipper issued a memorandum to the company's employees obtained by SI's Richard Deitsch.

"As many of you know, there has been substantial news coverage in the past few days related to comments Stephen A. made last Friday in the wake of the NFL's decision to suspend Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for two games following charges of assaulting his then fiancée, now wife, a few months ago.

"We've said publicly and in this space that those remarks did not reflect our company's point of view, or our values. They certainly don't reflect my personal beliefs."

[TwoWays]

So I was just forced to watch this morning's First Take. A) I'll never feel clean again B) I'm now aware that I can provoke my own beating.

I'm thinking about wearing a miniskirt this weekend...I'd hate to think what I'd be asking for by doing so

Violence isn't the victim's issue. It's the abuser's. To insinuate otherwise is irresponsible and disgusting. Walk. Away.

the above are some michele beadle tweets in response to stephen a smith's comments

[jjgold]

It finally caught up to him what an idiot

These guys get cocky and think they can say anything

Poor poor judgment

Lucky he did not get fired

[Kermit]

He's a bag of tools anyways.

[ByeShea]

This is BS.

Can him for sucking - not for offering his heartfelt opinion.

[easyliving]

what a joke, we brag about Freedom in the US yet any little thing you say can get taken out of context and be used again you. First take is a program about giving your point of view and opinions on certain topics why is he being punished for what he is being payed to do. God forbid you offend anyone these days. Luckily he is a black man that gets alot of ratings and has a ton of credit and his "rant" was about woman. Had it been against gays, or a certain race/ethnicity/religion he would have been canned for sure. ESPN won't lose much in viewers bringing him as not many women watch the channel to begin with. We are simply becoming too insensitive as a country and taking offense with every little thing. It seems like if you voice your opinion on a so called "controversial" topic and your against the general opinion your gonna get lynched. In a country thats 75% muslim/christian/jewish all religions that oppose gay marriage and see it as a major sin forget about criticizing it you can not even make a comment about another gay athlete/person without getting hammered by the media. And I'm just giving homosexuality as an example I do not want to single it out as its the same situation with other issues and if you have an opinion that defers from the rest you better keep quite.

[brooks85]

my ebonics definition must be outdated cause I don't even know wtf this means...

"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 ... 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."

[easyliving]

my ebonics definition must be outdated cause I don't even know wtf this means...

"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 ... 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."

translation: if the cops or I show up after you got your ass beat, it doesn't change the fact that you got your ass beat. If someone shoots you, the cops showing up 5 minutes later isn't gonna undo the shooting.

[Kermit]

my ebonics definition must be outdated cause I don't even know wtf this means...

"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 ... 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."

Yeah, it certainly is a clusterfukk of nonsense.

[Cuse0323]

I despise Stephen A, but his words were taken the wrong way and nothing outrageous. I'm not gonna feel bad for him since I think he shouldn't have a job anyway but it shouldn't be because of this.

Fck, I hate the media and people that argue one extreme against another. People that can't even fathom a middle ground on a quote, opinion, situation, etc. is just insane to me.

He wasn't saying girls it's the women's fault and it's sad that some people couldn't decipher something so obvious.

[Cuse0323]

Yeah, it certainly is a clusterfukk of nonsense.

He's saying keep yourself out of situations that could become physical. After that abuse, there's nothing that can be done. Women have the ability to stay away from abusive relationships that are blatantly imminent. That is on them to a degree to recognize that and get the fck out of there.

[Dilo]

The guy is an idiot. Can't stand anything he says, and the way he sounds saying it.

[Cuse0323]

Of course, there are situations where it is impossible to predict violence and plenty of abusive relationships that are very difficult to get out of. I think he was actually giving a heads up to women to try your best to stay out of relationships like that. I grew up watching things I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy so I'm not some women hater but the backlash for this is crazy to me.

He fcked up using the word provoked, now people are running wild with that one word out of context.