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Stephen A. Smith doesn’t understand the backlash rappers like Snoop Dogg, Nelly and Soulja Boy are receiving for performing at events around Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.
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During a recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube, the media personality started his rant about the vitriol they’ve been receiving online by asking some questions. “What if this person voted for him because they’re broke and they think he can put some more money in their pocket?” he asked. “What if this person voted for him because they’re in a crime-ridden neighborhood and they feel leftists aren’t having the streets patrolled well enough? What if they wanna call 911, but they live in an environment that people were supporting defunding the police? … What if the job market mattered to them?”
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He then continued by asking whether Soulja Boy had a right to make a living. “Soulja Boy ain’t got no right to make some money?” he asked. “Everybody’s quick to say, ‘If it was me, there’s a different way to make money.’ You sure about that? I saw Soulja Boy pull out some cash. I couldn’t count, but it looked like at least six figures. What it takes most people to make in a year, the brother made in one night.”
Smith then set his sights on Snoop and pointed out that the Long Beach rapper actually performed at the Crypto Ball — one of the events surrounding the inauguration — and that he was there for Trump’s Crypto and A.I. czar David Sacks and not the new president, who reportedly didn’t attend the event but was the guest of honor. “David Sacks is someone who Snoop has had a relationship with for decades,” Smith revealed. “David Sacks is that cat when nobody else put their hand out offering dollars to Snoop’s football league and beyond, that brother does it.”
Smith added: “Snoop Dogg’s worth over $100 million. He’s got a youth football league — this brother’s sending cats to college, this brother’s sending cats to the NFL. We just gonna ignore that cause he performed at the inauguration?”
When it came to Nelly, Stephen A. claimed the St. Louis rapper isn’t into politics and will perform for the right price.
“Nelly is not a political person, he doesn’t get involved in the campaigns,” he said. “Nelly does perform for people who will pay the right fee and believes in respecting the office because of the power that comes with it. That’s his position. Like it or not, you gotta respect it.”
However, Nelly recently said he didn’t agree to perform for money; he agreed because he saw it as an honor and likened it to the military who have to serve the country no matter who’s in office. “I’m not doing this for money,” he said on Willie D Live. “I’m doing this ’cause it’s an honor. I respect the office. It don’t matter who’s in office. The same way that our men and women, our brother and sisters who protect this country have to go to war and have to put their life on the line for whoever in office. If they can put their life on the line for whoever’s in office, I can perform for whoever’s in office.”
Stephen A. Smith goes off on the people criticizing Snoop Dogg, Nelly, and Soulja Boy for performing at President Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration and calls out those in our community who turned against Ice Cube.(🎥 Stephen A. Smith/YouTube) pic.twitter.com/AutqkxBTjq— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) January 21, 2025
You can watch the full episode below.
Clairo is summoning witches and casting spells on Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day. On Monday (Jan. 20) — the same day Trump was sworn in for his second White House term — the 26-year-old singer/songwriter tweeted a call to action. “Witchcraft on Trump ASAP !” she wrote. It’s not the first time Clairo has expressed opposition […]
ROSÉ has now added dance teacher to her resumé. In a new YouTube Short posted to The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s account, Kelly Clarkson tells ROSÉ that she “heard” about a viral dance to the tune of the K-pop star’s Bruno Mars collaboration, “APT.,” asking, “I love dancing, so can you teach me and maybe some […]
Parker McCollum gave a tip of the hat to late Country Music Hall of Famer Toby Keith when the Texas native performed at the Commander-in-Chief Inaugural Ball on Monday night in Washington, D.C. following Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony as the 47th president of the United States earlier that day. Parker performed a rendition of Keith’s […]
Technical issued led to a haphazard Billy Ray Cyrus performance at the Liberty Ball during Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration and on Tuesday (Jan. 21), the star responded to critics. “I wouldn’t have missed the honor of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not. I was there because President Donald J. […]
Duane “Keefe D” Davis will not have his murder charge dismissed for his alleged role in the September 1996 shooting death of Tupac Shakur. Per the Associated Press, Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny ruled on Tuesday (Jan. 21) that Davis’ murder charge will stand as he hasn’t shown any proof of immunity in regard […]
ONE OK ROCK surprise-dropped a new song called “Puppets Can’t Control You” on Sunday (Jan. 19). The four-man band’s latest release is the second lead single from its upcoming new album DETOX, due Feb. 21. The track is being featured as the theme song for the TBS drama series Mikami Sensei, which started airing on […]
Addison Rae is one of the few influencers who is successfully transitioning into a pop career, and in a new Rolling Stone cover story, the 24-year old star opened up about how her friend Charli XCX has been an inspiration to her along the journey. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, […]
After fellow country star Carrie Underwood‘s version of “America the Beautiful” was delivered a cappella after two awkward minutes of silence at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Monday (Jan. 20), the technical issues appeared to continue later that night during a shambolic set by Billy Ray Cyrus at the Liberty Ball.
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In video of the performance, a confused-looking Cyrus, 63, begins strumming his electric guitar after playing the video intro to Lil Nas X’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Old Town Road” on the screen behind him. As the audio from the song cued up, Cyrus attempted to play guitar and sing along, with his instrument and vocals inaudible as he looked around in confusion.
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At one point he turned his back to the audience for several seconds, then moved back to the mic to no avail in what turned into a bizarre lip synch ramble that went viral for all the wrong reasons. “I think y’all was just getting warmed up, to be honest. You wanna do a little more of it,” Cyrus croaked, as he strummed the song’s melody on his guitar and whistled the chorus through his teeth to a silent audience just after the video’s credits rolled behind him.
After singing the song’s chorus in a crackly voice and rapidly skipping back and forth across the stage while the crowd finally came to life and sang the lines back to him, Cyrus tried to get the audience to clap along to his a cappella singing, explaining, “they told me to kill as much time as possible,” and wondering if they knew the words to his signature 1992 breakthrough hit, “Achy Breaky Heart.”
“Is my guitar still on?” Cyrus asked. “I think they cut me off. I don’t hear my guitar anymore.” Looking around for help, while saying “check” into his mic, Cyrus said, “is anybody awake? I don’t hear it. Do y’all hear this? Where’s everybody at? Check. Is anyone back there? Can someone turn my guitar back on? We gonna sing a little bit more.”
As the awkward silence continued, Cyrus looked in vain for help, asking the crowd, “Do y’all want me to sing more or do you just want me to get the hell off the stage? I don’t give a damn.” A guitar tech finally came out and tried to remedy the sound problems with the guitar to no avail.
Cyrus then made reference to Underwood’s performance just hours earlier, where she sang without the planned accompaniment from the Armed Forces Chorus and the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club after a long, awkward silence during the swearing-in for Trump.
“I could try it like this… After what Carrie Underwood did today — wasn’t Carrie Underwood fabulous? — Carrie Underwood, you were amazing today,” Cyrus said, taking off his hat and bandana to mild applause. “They had technical difficulties too. And in life, when you have technical difficulties you just gotta keep going. Or as President Trump would say, you gotta fight!”
After another try, Cyrus asked his fans to “just snap your fingers” as he did a raspy a cappella bit of “Achy Breaky Heart” before leaving the stage. At press time it did not appear that Lil Nas X had reacted to Cyrus’ performance and Cyrus had seemingly not reacted to posts dubbing his set an “epic disaster.”
Cyrus did post a pic from his performance on Instagram, writing, “Honored to kick off the Liberty Ball at the request of our 47th President and Commander-in-Chief @realdonaldtrump. When you get knocked down, you get back up. You fight and persevere,” which followed up an earlier image from his sound check at Capitol One Arena.
Watch Cyrus’ performance below.
Suffice to say, Jade Thirwall and Harry Styles weren’t written in the stars. While serving as a guest on Louis Theroux’s podcast episode posted Tuesday (Jan. 21), the Little Mix star reflected on meeting the One Direction alum during their early days on The X Factor, revealing that they went on one date before a certain teen heartthrob ghosted her.
While talking about her career beginnings on Simon Cowell’s talent competition show, Thirlwall shared that she and Styles met — and hit it off — when both of them were auditionees. “I think we went on like one date when we were 16 or something,” she said. “He’d just got put in a band, and it was really funny, because we kept in touch. Then the minute they went on live shows, he didn’t message me back.”
“I thought, ‘That’s it, now he’s gone. He’s made it,’” the “IT Girl” singer continued, laughing.
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Thirlwall tried out for The X Factor in 2010, but didn’t make the cut. That same year, Styles also auditioned and was sorted into One Direction with bandmates Liam Payne — who died in October — Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan. The boy band placed third on the show.
The next year, Thirlwall re-auditioned for X Factor, this time earning a spot in girl group Little Mix alongside Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson. After she made it onto the show — later winning the season with her band — the “Angel of My Dreams” musician says she ran into Styles again.
“He was like, ‘I’m really sorry I ignored you,’” she recalled. “I was so young, it didn’t really matter. But he was always very, very lovely. He’s gotten himself to where he is because he’s very talented and he’s very lovely. Very charming.”
Little Mix went on to release six studio albums between 2012 and 2020, notching three singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Nelson left the group at the end of 2020, and the remaining trio announced a hiatus the following year.
In 2024, Thirlwall finally kicked off her solo career with the release of debut single “Angel of My Dreams.” She’s since dropped the tracks “Midnight Cowboy,” “Fantasy” and “IT Girl.”
Listen to Thirlwall talk about Styles and Payne on The Louis Theroux Podcast below.
