Stephen A. Smith is a Swiftie, and he’s coming to Taylor Swift‘s defense!
During a January 10 episode of ESPN’s First Take, the 56-year-old sports journalist took a moment to school the 34-year-old pop star’s haters.
Taylor has been attending lots of football games to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and some NFL fans are not thrilled with the recent focus on her.
According to Stephen though, she’s “that girl,” and people should “show some respect.”
Keep reading to find out what he said…
“I have to take a moment to come to the defense of Taylor Swift,” he began. “Everybody is sitting up there and acting like she’s some kind of impediment. She did her job. That Eras Tour? Off the chain! Generated billions.”
The TV personality revealed that he went to one of her shows and had a wonderful time.
“Taylor Swift was phenomenal,” he said. “I went to the concert. I see these kids, they absolutely love her. She did her job. She’s going to support her dude to show up at a football game and the camera is on her…that ain’t her fault.”
“And by the way, she went to the games after the concerts,” Stephen pointed out. “It’s not like she used the games to bump up the concerts. Oh no. Those kids were going to her concerts whether the NFL was promoting her or not.”
In conclusion, he emphasized, “Taylor Swift is that girl. Let’s show some respect. She’s probably going to have a positive impact on Travis Kelce‘s performance.”
Stephen‘s defense comes days after Golden Globes host Jo Koy made an NFL-related Taylor joke that the singer didn’t seem to like.