ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith is apparently gunning for woke comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night TV gig, and claims he “wouldn’t be one-sided.” That’s a nice sentiment in today’s woke mess of late night television, but Smith’s many years of left-wing rants makes that hard to believe.
The outspoken sports personality, who claims to be a fiscal conservative and a social liberal, sat down for an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity to promote his memoir, “Straight Shooter,” and at one point mentioned that he has ambitions outside the arena of sports.
Indeed, Smith was quite specific about where he’d like to go next. He is eyeing woke, pro-vax, late-night ABC TV host Jimmy Kimmel’s job.
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“I am interested in doing late night,” Smith exclaimed. “I would love to be the heir apparent to Jimmy Kimmel. I believe I can do it.”
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Hannity then interjected with a friendly, joking compliment, before Smith resumed reciting why he would be such a good fit to replace Kimmel.
“I would throw everybody for a loop, because, you know, my politics would throw people off because I’d be fair to everybody and I’d listen to everybody. It wouldn’t be one-sided, I’m not a one-sided kind of guy. I’m one-sided on issues, I’m not one-sided on ideology. I don’t believe in that.”
Smith was given a late-night show on ESPN in 2005 when it gave him an evening time slot for a one-on-one interview show entitled “Quite Frankly.” It was canceled after three years and went away in 2007 after failing to bring in viewers.
But Smith actually spent a night filling in for Kimmel back in 2021, and it seems to have wet his whistle for for more late-night action.
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For his part, Sean Hannity was utterly dour on network late-night TV fare, calling it “alienating” for half the country.
“I don’t care if you’re watching Colbert or if you’re watching Fallon or you’re watching Kimmel,” Hannity replied. “It’s like a left-wing comedy show and they’re alienating and pushing away half the country. I don’t watch their show because I don’t think it’s funny anymore.”
Even Jimmy Kimmel has openly admitted that he purposefully alienates anyone who is not a radical left-winger. Not only does he do it on purpose, but he is unrepentant at it to boot. He has openly told half the country that he does not want them to watch his show.
Smith did not dispute Hannity’s characterization, but did go on to say if they really are that left-wing, it is a problem.
Smith went on to say that, assuming Hannity’s characterization is accurate (it is), “it should be a problem because the reality of the situation is there’s more than 350 million Americans in this country and at least 170-180 million think conservatively like Sean Hannity, OK? We understand that, and whether you like it or not, that’s their reality.”
“I’m a black man, I’m a proud black man,” Smith insisted. “I love the black community, I love my people. but Black appeal is not what I’m in search of, I’m in search of mass appeal, I want everybody.”
Still, it is hard to see Smith as anything but a left-winger. His commentary is filled with race-baiting and leftist tropes. He’s even played the victim, claiming he is “underpaid” because he’s black.
He has repeatedly thrown the race card over the years. Just for a few examples, in 2019, he went on a rant telling white people to “shut the hell up.” In 2020 he accused the Brooklyn Nets of racism for hiring Steve Nash saying the team only hired Nash because he is white. And just last year, he insisted that Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka was only suspended because he was black.
If that sort of commentary is what Smith thinks is moderate and anything but one-sided, he has some funny definitions.
But Hannity is right on about late-night TV. It is a woke, left-wing cesspool. And that is why Fox News late-night host Greg Gutfeld is winning the ratings war.
Even though Fox News is available to far fewer viewers on cable than the over-the-air big three networks of ABC, CBS, or NBC, his show is the leading late-night ratings hit. In fact, in August his show became the first cable show to beat all the late-night opponents back in August.
That same month last year, Gutfeld also became the first cable show in history to earn top ratings for an entire month.
Gutfeld’s wild success has even brought NBC executives to a bit of buyer’s remorse for having handed Jimmy Fallon a fat $80 million contract extension even as Gutfeld continues to beat Fallon in the ratings.
It is highly doubtful that anyone like Stephen A. Smith would be much better than wokesters including Kimmel, Fallon, and Meyers. And, while he would not likely be any worse, it also isn’t likely that he would be any less one-sided, nor that he’d be able to topple late-night king Greg Gutfeld.
