Stephen A. Smith has mistakenly slipped up on-air while recapping the Houston Texans’ blowout playoff win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
During Tuesday’s episode of First Take, the sports analyst dissected the Texans' 30-6 win, thanks to the team’s defense and quarterback C.J. Stroud’s 46-yard pass to wide receiver Christian Kirk. Overall, Kirk finished the game with eight receptions, 144 receiving yards and one touchdown, setting a postseason record.
However, as Smith was trying to give Kirk the proper credit, he accidentally mixed up his first name with that of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September 2025 at Utah Valley University while speaking to students. The 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder was shot in the neck by an assassin’s bullet fired from a nearby rooftop, and a suspect, Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested following a manhunt.
“We saw Charlie Kirk catch eight receptions for 144 yards,” Smith said during the live broadcast before First Take host Shae Peppler Cornette quickly jumped in to correct him.
“I’m sorry, I apologize,” Smith said. “Oh my God, I meant Christian Kirk.”
The blunder quickly went viral, with viewers mostly laughing at Smith’s blatant error.
“This is an absolutely inexcusable error from @stephenasmith. How does a slip like this even happen?? Charlie Kirk was obviously a quarterback, not a receiver,” one X user joked.
“Stephen A. is getting his lanes mixed up lolol,” another pointed out while someone else said, “Bruh how do you even continue your point after that.”
Others were less kind, with one person writing on X, “Stephen A. Smiths sports coverage is becoming intertwined with his political aspirations.”
Smith had been one of the many people to speak out about the political activist’s death.
“I don’t care what his political beliefs were. I don’t care what he felt,” he said at the time. “That he’s dead at the age of 31. That his wife is a widow. That his children are fatherless because his ideas and his beliefs differed from somebody else, apparently. And then I’m going online, and I’m seeing people celebrating it. Shame! Shame on you!”
Smith has previously been outspoken about politics and even hinted at a possible presidential run, saying last year that he was “leaving all doors open,” according to The Hill.
However, in June 2025, he told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, he would prefer to be a “hell raiser” and is not looking to run for president in 2028.
“The way I look at it, the money that I have earned working my ass off all of these years now, I would have to curry favor, which means I would be owned. And I ain’t having that, so I’m not interested in that at all,” he said at the time.
Smith said he was more interested in being a voice for change than filling a chair in the Oval Office.
“I want to be a major player in terms of a voice and a conduit for change,” he continued. “I want to make sure that people know that the BS has got to stop!”
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