Stephen A. Smith forced to offer special apology after $25 million Teyana Taylor-Iman Shumpert divorce claim

Stephen A.Smith had to issue two apologies last week for his on-air comments that went too far.

The ESPN personality publicly apologized to NBA guard Iman Shumpert and actress Teyana Taylor for sharing false information regarding their divorce on an October episode of “The Culture Table” podcast, which is one of several podcasts produced by his Straight Shooter Media company.Smith previously said that Taylor walked away from her divorce with $25 million and $10 million in properties, luxury cars and other assets, while Shumpert was left with $2 million and nowhere to live.During a “special segment” entitled “setting the record straight” on his Straight Shooter Media YouTube on Saturday, Smith explained that he spoke with Taylor, who confirmed that his previous statements regarding her and Shumpert’s finances were “patiently false.”“In the interest of fairness, accuracy, and decency, I believe it’s important to address what happened in connection with an October episode of ‘The Culture Table titled, ‘Can men trust women with their finances?'” Smith said before repeating his remarks on their divorce.“Those statements were inaccurate and I want to sincerely apologize to both Iman Shumpert and Teyana Taylor.”Smith, who descried the matter as “serious, sensitive and frankly uncomfortable,” said he personally apologized to Taylor and Shumpert.“The information, just to be clear, was based on quotes and claims that are heavily circulating in media reports and on social media that were attributed to Iman Shumpert.The quotes attributed to him, however, were not his statements at all, and the financial figures presented were inaccurate.“… I also regret that the segment may have left viewers with the impression that Iman had publicly disparaged the mother of his children.

And I’m here to tell you that Teyana has informed me that those statements were not made by him at all.Smith said that episode of “The Culture Table” has been...