Stephen A. Smith Apologizes For 'First Take' Comments About Shohei Ohtani

Stephen A. Smith caused controversy on Monday when he claimed Shohei Ohtani's use of a translator made it more difficult for Major League Baseball to promote him. The crux of his argument being that MLB would struggle to market Ohtani because he uses a translator. Several hours later he has now apologized for those remarks.

He posted the following to his Twitter account:

That is a well-written apology and it was smart to issue it as soon as possible, rather than waiting for tomorrow's show.

Here is the First Take segment that caused the controversy:

Before issuing a full apology, Smith took to Twitter in an attempt to explain what he was actually trying to say:

This isn't the last we'll hear on this issue, as Smith will address the comments on Tuesday's First Take. ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan has announced he'll be joining the show.

Smith caught flak from a number of directions for that original statement, even a pair of ESPN colleagues were upset by his comments. Both Mina Kimes and Pablo Torre posted tweets that alluded to Smith's take:

We'll keep you updated as this story continues to develop.