Serena Williams‘ husband, Alexis Ohanian, confronted ESPN star Stephen A. Smith about past comments that questioned her respect for their marriage.
During a recent appearance on ESPN’s First Take, Ohanian, a tech entrepreneur and Reddit co-founder, directly addressed Smith’s remarks regarding Williams’ intent behind her appearance onstage with rapper Kendrick Lamar during the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
The exchange came months after Smith publicly criticized Williams for what Smith had interpreted as a slight toward rapper Drake, Williams’ ex-boyfriend, with whom she reportedly had an acrimonious split.
At the time, Smith said: “If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his a**. Cause clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.”
On First Take, Ohanian took the opportunity to clap back: “Stephen A. Smith, I think you had some marriage advice for me,” he said, referencing the earlier remarks.
Smith attempted to downplay the situation, replying, “Listen, I didn’t. Headlines are headlines. We can get into that another time. … I am not qualified. Marital advice? No, not me.”
Unfazed, Ohanian pressed on. “Well I was going to ask you, because you haven’t been married before, right? Because I give advice to plenty of founders who want to build billion-dollar companies, and the reason I do that is because I built billion-dollar companies. So, I generally try to stay in my lane in the advice department.”
