Stephen A. Smith deletes tweet asking ‘Is Kim Kardashian a prostitute?’ after Patrick Beverley’s pushback

Having long desired a spotlight outside of his ESPN sphere of influence, Stephen A. Smith has found a way to generate consistent headlines outside of the world of sports in the form of his weekly Stephen A. Smith Show podcast.

Each week, Smith uses his solo show to trot out opinions on politics, pop culture, and whatever else might be going viral at that moment. Some of the topics he’s covered include breasts and breast milk, CNN’s firing of Chris Licht, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Joey Chestnut’s hot dog farts, Supreme Court decisions, the transactional nature of marriage, and his critics.

Smith has also spent some time discussing Kim Kardashian. Earlier this month he dedicated a segment on his show to rumors that she and Tom Brady were seen flirting at a party, offering his approval on any potential hook-ups. Before that, he referenced Kardashian in a rant about parenthood, including an image of her in a bikini and practically drooling over it on camera.

On Friday, Smith broadcast his podcast live from Las Vegas, and in usual form, posted a promotional tweet meant to get people interested in what he’d say. It featured two questions.

“Is Kim Kardashian a ‘prostitute’?” and “Is Kris Jenner a ‘pimp?’”

See deleted tweet:

Smith was referencing comments made by conservative pundit Candance Owens, who has said those quoted words about Kardashian and mom Kris Jenner in the past.

However, it was not made entirely clear in the original tweet that Smith was referencing Owens. A follow-up tweet tried to make that clarification, saying “Candace Owens seems to think that to be the case, at least.” However, that was a little too late for many people who read the initial tweet as Smith’s own views.

One of those people was Philadelphia Sixers guard and aspiring sports personality Patrick Beverley, who responded to the initial tweet.

“Not cool,” wrote Beverley. “She has kids. Should not be the tittle [sic] or topic.”

That got Smith’s attention and a few hours later the First Take host responded and clarified his personal stance.

“Clerical error bro. You are absolutely right,” wrote Smith. “That is being corrected right now as we speak. And for the record, I don’t think of [Kim Kardashian] that way nor would I ever speak of her or any woman that way, which I’ve stated. That’s for checking that issue.”

The original tweet was also deleted around that time.

Smith appears to have really enjoyed the new kind of attention he’s gotten from his podcast, and the way he’s promoted the show in recent weeks has reflected that. But he seems to have flown a little too close to the aggregation sun this time and got checked for it.

Of course, knowing Smith, he’ll probably have something to say about this on next week’s podcast, perhaps even with Beverley on hand. It’s all content in the end.