A prominent sports media figure is taking issue with the 2024 BET Awards.
Sunday’s broadcast also included an “In Memoriam” segment featuring recently deceased baseball stars Willie Mays and actor Carl Weathers.
Still, the awards ceremony included Pro Football Hall of Famer and Hollywood star O.J. Simpson, who was accused and later acquitted of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in the mid-1990s and died earlier this year at age 76 after a battle with cancer.
The inclusion of Simpson, who was convicted of armed robbery in 2007, on the list angered many on social media, but particularly upset ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
During Tuesday’s episode of his eponymous podcast, Smith offered a lengthy diatribe about Simpson’s appearance during the show.
Smith began his monologue by praising the show’s ratings and its celebration of Black people and culture, and he offered praise for the awards and BET executives.
But Smith said he was “quite upset” when Simpson’s name and photo were shown on a screen above the stage during the show.
“Whether or not he’s acquitted, O.J. Simpson is a double murderer in the eyes of most people,” Smith said on the show.
Smith said he has issues with the show, which is supposed to celebrate black people, including the host of “First Take,” who he didn’t believe cared about black people until he was put on trial.
“Here’s my take: O.J. Simpson didn’t care about black people at all until he was indicted. He didn’t care at all,” Smith added.
“The bigger issue is we should never be given a reason to talk about him again. We certainly shouldn’t be glorifying O.J. Simpson. Sorry. We shouldn’t be glorifying him when two people were nearly decapitated and he was the prime suspect,” Smith added.
His scathing remarks came after Goldman’s father, Fred, He complained to NBC Simpson will also be appearing on the show.
“I thought that was wrong,” Goldman told the outlet, “just wrong. I just couldn’t imagine him being in the same category as the vast majority of the other people they were honoring.”
