Stephen A. Backtracks Baseless Pat McAfee White Privilege Comment

Last week, Stephen A. Smith accused Pat McAfee of benefiting from white privilege at ESPN.

Smith told the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast that McAfee doesn’t have to be as "polished" as him because he’s white and Smith is black.

We responded to Smith’s comment by noting that the available evidence suggests his claim is not accurate. ESPN actually grants a far longer leash to its black employees. 

We cited Mark Jones calling Smith a "coon," J.A. Adande defending the Chinese Communist Party, and Stan Verrett smearing his colleagues on social media as examples that would've undoubtedly resulted in punishments for white ESPN employees.

Still, we had hoped Stephen A. would provide some examples to validate his argument. Perhaps there are instances of which we are not aware. 

However, when Smith addressed his comments about McAfee on his podcast Wednesday, he backtracked.

"I was not talking about Pat McAfee. I was not talking about his show," said Smith about headlines questioning his reference to white privilege.

"I support him and his show. The more successful they are, the more successful I become. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again many, many times over. Hell, whether he believes it or not, I don’t really know. We’ve never really talked about it. I can tell you this for a fact: One of the greatest things that ever happened to somebody in my position is Pat McAfee and his show coming to ESPN and them getting paid. Because you set the market."

Translation: Stephen A. Smith tried to race bait, got caught, and now hopes to change the subject.

How original.

Now, Smith is not lying when he says he’s happy that McAfee arrived at ESPN for a reported $17 million a year. He’s telling the truth. 

Stephen A. knows that he can use McAfee's salary to his full advantage come contract time. 

Think about it: if ESPN offers Smith a salary less than McAfee's, he has the race card readily available in his back pocket.

Smith would not hesitate to go on his podcast and/or leak to the New York Times that ESPN offered him less money than his white counterpart. 

McAfee’s move to ESPN is the greatest form of leverage for which Smith could’ve asked. 

And knowing the racial sensitivities that plague ESPN and parent company Disney, we can confidently predict that ESPN will offer Stephen A. Smith a contract exceeding McAfee’s in annual value. 

White privilege does not exist inside ESPN. At least not anymore. But race card privilege runs rampant.