ESPN's Stephen A. Smith apologizes on-air for his controversial Shohei Ohtani comments: "I was wrong, period"

Awful Announcing

Smith's response this morning on First Take was his latest apology after tweeting out a lengthy statement Monday saying sorry for criticizing the Los Angeles Angels sensation from Japan for using an interpreter on the same show on Monday. “Let me be the first to stand up and say that I want to express my sincere apologies to the Asian community and Asian American community,” said Smith, making it clear that he didn’t want to hide behind press releases or statements and wasn’t forced into his apology by ESPN. Afterwards, ESPN baseball reporter Jeff Passan was brought on to assert that ESPN and its platforms should do better. “Shohei Ohtani came to this country at 23 years old,” said Passan. “He left behind his family, he left behind his culture, he left behind his country. He left behind everything he knows to go and pursue the American dream. He wanted to come here and be great. And he is the sort of person who this show, who this network, who this country should embrace. We are not the ones who should be trafficking in ignorance.”