Stephen A Smith wins thumbs down award for “disparaging” prominent black women

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) presented Stephen A Smith with its 2026 “Thumbs Down” award at the Salute to Excellence Awards Gala during the NABJ26 convention in Atlanta on August 15, 2026.

NABJ’s citation stated that Smith, described as a sports analyst and political commentator, “has established a recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women across politics, sports, and media.”

It added that such commentary “reinforces harmful narratives, undermines the fair and respectful representation of Black women in public discourse, and stands in direct conflict with NABJ’s longstanding commitment to accurate, responsible, and inclusive portrayals of Black communities.”

A Thumbs Down Award is a critical distinction or dishonor given to an individual, group or organization to publicly call out actions, reporting or commentary that are deemed biased, insensitive or stereotypical about the Black community.

In addition to Smith, the list of other “thumbs down” award recipients includes FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, CBS News, DuJuan McCoy and The Washington Post.

Continue to read for more details.

Examples which show that Stephen A Smith is critical of the Black community

Former NBA player and author, Etan Thomas, published an open letter in The Guardian titled “I can tell Stephen A Smith why many Black people don’t like him.”

Thomas begins by praising Smith’s genuine contributions to HBCUs, noting that he helped millions by generating scholarships, promoting student enrolment and hosting the HBCU College Fair. Thomas then explains why, despite that work, many Black people feel that Smith “betrayed” their race.

Thomas quotes his co-host Chuck Modiano, who said:

“Stephen A Smith loves to criticize Black athletes, but he won’t go after Roger Goodell like that. He won’t go after owners that way.”

Thomas then wrote that Stephen A Smith attacks Black male athletes such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Terrell Owens and Kyrie Irving. He noted it as a treatment which he does not use towards white male athletes and executives.

He argued that Smith downplays racism, saying that racism is not as prevalent in the U.S. as some on the “left” claim. Thomas noted that Smith said that most Americans judge people based on their character rather than skin color, which Thomas noted is not the experience of most Black people in the U.S.

Speaking of the brutalization and human rights abuses under the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thomas claimed that Stephen A Smith held Renee Good responsible for her own fatal shooting conducted by an ICE agent. Thomas said:

“In the midst of ICE’s brutalization of large parts of the country, you blamed Renee Good for her own death at the hands of federal agents. You then claimed that people celebrated ICE under Obama but are condemning Trump.”

Thomas called Stephen A Smith for showing sympathy towards President Donald Trump. He noted that Smith “claimed that people celebrated ICE under Obama but are condemning Trump.”

He added further that Smith called Democrats’ efforts to hold Trump accountable in courts as “lawfare” and criticized Rep. Jasmine Crockett “for not being respectful enough to Trump.”

On Cam Newton’s show, Stephen A Smith argued that every Black person should vote Republican because Democrats take the Black vote for granted and that Black people have been “giving” their vote to Democrats since 1964. Thomas noted that Smith omitted the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, passed under Democratic President Lyndon B Johnson.

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In his conclusion, Thomas said that Smith has been “pushing an agenda that is detrimental to the Black community as a whole.”

Reactions to Smith receiving the "thumbs down" award are polarized with a handful of sections viewing it as overdue accountability and others calling it unfair or selective.

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