Stephen A. Smith has been putting his foot in his mouth recently.
This past week, the sports commentator misnamed NFL player Christian Kirk while on First Take, instead accidentally calling him Charlie Kirk. While on his podcast The Stephen A. Smith Show on Thursday (January 15), Smith addressed claims of selling out and tried to name-drop his Omega Psi Phi fraternity, although he called them "Osega" at first.
"I'm a member of Osega...Omega Psi Phi fraternity," Smith said in his remarks geared towards news personalities Don Lemon and Joy Reid. "I ain't just down with a fraternity. That's a brotherhood. All of them are my boys."
Earlier this month, Lemon and Reid criticized Smith for appearing on right-wing podcasts and "cozying up to white people." You can see Lemon's remarks, followed by Smith's response, naming mistake included, below.
"He's one of those Black people who white people think Black people like but we don't," Lemon said on an episode of The Don Lemon Show.
"Black people don't want to hear from him networks. We don't like him...it is because he's Black, but it's [also] because he's Black and he's a sellout," Lemon added.
After addressing the allegations on his podcast, Smith tweeted an apology to his fraternity, which he's an honorary member of, for mispronouncing their name.
"To the frat — to MY Brothers — at Omega Psi Phi (@OfficialOPPF), I just wanted to reach out and personally apologize for my mishap a few days ago," Smith tweeted. "Evidently, in the midst of my diatribe, clapping back at folks coming at me, I was so focused on addressing them that I MISPRONOUNCED the name of our Fraternity."
Smith added that he had "no idea" about the error until being informed just minutes before.
"Simply put: Inexcusable! Totally my fault. I’m proud to call all of y’all my brothers," he concluded. "That is not a mistake I should ever make. Gotta slow down and speak clearer. Again, my sincere apologies! Sincerely!"
Smith was also corrected during his Charlie Kirk slip on the January 13 episode of First Take, although he quickly acknowledged the mistake.
