ESPN star Stephen A. Smith spent the weekend cleaning up a mess of his own making. He posted a public apology video to Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert after repeating false numbers about their divorce on his own show.
On an October episode of “The Culture Table,” his Straight Shooter Media podcast titled “Can Men Trust Women With Their Finances?”, Smith claimed Taylor walked away with $25 million while Shumpert got about $2 million and nowhere to live. None of it was true.
The wildest part is how he found out. Teyana called him herself. “I know this for a fact because I personally spoke to Teyana Taylor, who verified herself that the information circulating out there is patently false,” Smith said. He had fallen for viral quotes falsely attributed to Shumpert and a December 2025 social media post carrying the fake numbers. Neither checked out.
Smith pulled the episode but left the apology up. As CEO of Straight Shooter Media, he took full responsibility: “We didn’t meet that standard here. Plain and simple.” He says he already apologized to both of them privately.
“Been doing a lot of tap dancing, I mean apologizing.”
Jalen Rose
This is Smith’s second public apology in one week. Days earlier he walked back comments mocking Eagles lineman Lane Johnson’s retirement over mental health. Former ESPN colleague Jalen Rose noticed the pattern and let the “tap dancing” joke fly.
Teyana and Iman divorced in 2024 after ten years together and share two daughters. One phone call before the episode aired would have saved Smith a whole weekend of apologizing.