Stephen A. Smith admitted he was hurt by Kevin Hart listing him on the “Mount Rushmore of Racism” during his recent comedy roast.

Hart was the target of Netflix’s latest roast, which was hosted by comedian Shane Gillis. At one point during the special, Hart joked that Gillis was on his “Mount Rushmore of Racism.”

Also included in that list, Hart continued, were Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Smith.

Responding on his SiriusXM show Straight Shooter on Wednesday, Smith said the joke “stung like hell.”

“First of all, I got — at least I thought I had — a pretty damn good relationship with Kevin Hart,” Smith began. “He’s been on my show on many occasions. I’ve known him for years.”

He continued:

I don’t know. I mean, it’s a roast, but, you know, he’s getting crucified because a lot of people felt like too many jokes at this particular roast were tasteless. My attitude is a roast is a roast and people are there to be attacked. He’s gotten attacked, all of that other stuff. But I’m not going to front in failing to acknowledge that this year has been very, very difficult for me, from the standpoint that even though I’ve been very, very blessed and fortunate to secure my future in ways that I never thought imaginable — first at ESPN and then here at SiriusXM — the flip side to that is that I’ve taken a lot of heat because of perceived positions that I may have had.

Smith then pivoted to begin attacking the Democratic Party, accusing its members of trying to “silence” him.

He also claimed that criticism only motivates him more to consider running for president, an idea he has floated for well over a year since his name began appearing on polls for the 2028 election.

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