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D.L. Hughley fires back at Stephen A. Smith's pointed question about his contributions to the Black community, offering a direct response to the sports commentator's challenge.
D.L. Hughley used the “GED Section” segment of The D.L. Hughley Show to answer Stephen A. Smith’s on-air criticism from the previous week. Hughley addressed Smith’s comments one by one, starting with a question Smith had posed directly: what has Hughley done for Black people?
Hughley began with his creative work. He listed several books that use satire to examine Black life in America. How Not to Get Shot takes on policing. How to Survive America focuses on medical disparities. Surrender, White People! explores race relations, and Black Man, White House covers the backlash to the Obama presidency. He also pointed to his documentary The Endangered List, which satirically argued for placing Black men on the endangered species list and won a Peabody Award. “Every book I’ve ever written was to highlight the injustices leveled at Black people,” Hughley said.
Giving Back Through Benefit Shows
Hughley said his commitment goes beyond his creative output. He described benefit concerts he has performed in communities facing crisis, including Flint during its water emergency and Chicago to fund scholarships. After the racist mass shooting at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo, he said, his team staged “Jokes for Folks” at Shea’s and donated the proceeds so affected families could buy food. He added that he held weekly shows for victims of the Altadena fires and gave his time and money in Charleston after the Mother Emanuel church massacre.
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Hughley then turned to Smith’s remark that Hughley had never been invited to the White House. He said his past invitation came in his own name, while Smith attended as Bill Maher’s guest. Hughley said he ended his relationship with Maher over the host’s repeated comments about Black people. “When I stepped off, you stepped in,” he said. He questioned Maher’s description of Smith as “perfect” during the visit. In Hughley’s view, the word signaled that Smith stayed quiet. He also cited what he described as President Trump’s social media post calling the meeting a waste of time.
Smith had said the visit was about HBCUs and Black unemployment. Hughley challenged that framing. He called the administration’s $500 million HBCU commitment a “shell game” that moved previously allocated money away from other minority-serving programs. “He robbed DeAndre to pay Malik,” Hughley said. He contrasted the figure with the roughly $17 billion he credited to the Biden administration. He also linked rising unemployment among Black women to Project 2025 policies.
Hughley ended with a broader charge. He said he refuses to give comfort to people who “only mean us harm.” He also said speaking up for Black people comes at a professional cost he has long accepted. “What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?” he asked. Then he closed with a direct challenge to Smith: “I do my very best. Can you say the same?”
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