Olbermann also shared a video of Ohtani, who leads the league in home runs this year, speaking in English as he accepted an award from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America two years ago.
Smith, who was previously suspended by the network over domestic violence remarks, later posted a video on Twitter saying people misinterpreted his comments about Ohtani.
Smith said he was “talking about the marketability and the promotion of the sport” and that it “is exactly what Sports Illustrated essentially alluded to in their article last month when they talked about 28 percent of the players in Major League Baseball are foreign players. A lot of them need translators.”
On my earlier comments about Ohtani pic.twitter.com/FM0vnDDXBB
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 12, 2021
When reached for comment, ESPN pointed to Smith’s video explaining his remarks.
Smith’s remarks come amid fallout from ESPN host Rachel Nichols’s comments toward colleague Maria Taylor in which Nichols criticized the company’s decision to promote Taylor as the main host of the sports network’s NBA halftime show.
Nichols, who served as the lead sideline reporter for NBA coverage, was demoted from her position and replaced by Malika Andrews, who is Black.
Article Appeared @https://thehill.com/homenews/media/562594-espns-stephen-smith-faces-backlash-over-ohtani-remarks?rl=1