Stephen A. Smith has been suspended for a week by ESPN.
The blowhard of a commentator made headlines last week during the show First Take when asked about Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.
The former All-Pro got suspended himself for two games by the NFL after being caught on surveillance camera dragging his unconscious girlfriend out of a hotel elevator, with many taking the league to task for being too lenient on Rice.
Smith said any kind of physical violence against women is wrong, but qualified his statement by saying females need to make sure they do not "provoke wrong actions" by their male counterparts.
Assigning any blame to a woman in the case of domestic violence infuriated many, including ESPN's Michelle Beadle, who went off on Smith in a series of Twitter messages.
In the aftermath of his First Take appearance last Friday, Smith stood staunchly by his viewpoint.
"What about addressing women on how they can help prevent the obvious wrong being done upon them?" he said. "In no way was I accusing women of being wrong.
"I was simply saying what that preventive measures always need to be addressed because there's only but so much that can be done after the fact."
This morning, though, Smith apologized (referring to his provocation-themed comments as "the most egregious error of my career") for his remarks and ESPN released a statement that reads:
"We will continue to have constructive dialogue on this important topic. Stephen's comments last Friday do not reflect our company's point of view."
Smith will not be seen on television or heard on radio against until Wednesday, August 7.
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