Stephen A. Smith has been called out by fellow ESPN host Paul Finebaum following an on-air dispute – which the latter claims turned ‘racial’.
Finebaum, 70, was a guest on Smith’s show, First Take, on Wednesday and joined in discussions over the future of Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin.
Having impressed during his time in Mississippi thus far, Kiffin has been tipped for a move to a bigger school in the SEC in the near future.
However, when discussing Kiffin’s potential move, Smith said: ‘I’m going to bring it home, all right. He’s in Oxford, Mississippi, ok? Let’s get this out the way.
‘Leave it to me, I’ll say it. The brothers ain’t trying to come to Oxford, Mississippi for the most part compared to Gainesville or Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
‘Let’s just call it what it is, ok?,’ Smith said.
Stephen A Smith and Paul Finebaum clashed during an on-air discussion about Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has become one of college football’s most sought-after coaches
Finebaum looked perplexed as Smith ranted away, before responding to the comments on his own program – The Paul Finebaum Show – just hours later.
The ESPN host said that Smith was implying that Black athletes would not want to play in Oxford, Mississippi and questioned why the conversation turned ‘racial’.
Speaking on his show, Finebaum said: ‘I realize a lot of you did not see what Stephen A. said, but he clearly made it racial.
‘He clearly said, in his words, ‘the brothers do not want to go to Oxford, Mississippi,’ which has been proven to be completely incorrect.
‘I’ve been to Oxford a million times and I think it’s terribly unfair to bring up echoes of yesteryear, the 60s, and try to portray Oxford as that type of place today. It’s not.
‘The south has changed. You can make your own interpretation, but to dump on Oxford while saying Gainesville and Baton Rouge would be utopia was just baffling’.
Kiffin has quickly become one of the hottest properties in college football, having lead the Rebels to a 10-1 record and putting them on track for a CFP berth.
Kiffin was linked with the Florida and LSU jobs earlier in the week, before reports emerged claiming that his family had taken tours of both campuses.
Finebaum looked unimpressed during Smith’s rant but held his tongue during the broadcast
He later addressed the situation during his own show just hours later on Wednesday
The 50-year-old is yet to commit is future to Ole Miss and it remains to be seen whether he’ll opt to stay or take on a new challenge elsewhere.
The incident between Smith and Finebaum comes just days after the former was left off a ‘new-look’ team for long-running show; NBA Countdown.
On Sunday, the network announced that the team will feature host Malika Andrews, senior NBA writer Brian Windhorst, longtime analyst and former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins, and newly-hired Michael Malone – the former Denver Nuggets coach and 2023 NBA Finals winner.
ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania will also make regular appearances on the show, with the ‘new-look’ team to make its debut on Wednesday.
But Smith, who signed a five-year, $100m contract with the ‘Worldwide Leader in Sports’ earlier this year, has yet to appear on NBA Countdown so far this season.
The First Take host was a regular on the panel in recent years but Smith has now claimed he asked to come off the show because he is too busy with other ventures.
Meanwhile, with the 2026 mid-term elections rapidly approaching, ESPN college football insider and aspiring Republican US Senate candidate Finebaum is ‘very close’ to leaving media for politics, according to Front Office Sports.
Furthermore, sources told Front Office Sports that Finebaum is waiting for the ongoing college football season to play out before officially launching his senate bid.
Smith recently claimed it was his decision to stop working on NBA Countdown
Finebaum previously cited the murder of 31-year-old conservative activist Charlie Kirk as a reason he could jump into politics.
‘It’s hard to describe, not being involved in politics, how that affected me and affected tens of millions of people all over this country,’ Finebaum told Outkick’s Clay Travis. ‘And it was an awakening.’
Finebaum also admitted that he felt ’empty’ doing his four-hour daily show in the wake of Kirk’s death.
‘I spent four hours numb talking about things that didn’t matter to me. And it kept building throughout that weekend,’ he said.