Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay threatened ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith with legal action in a series of posts on social media Wednesday.
Irsay made headlines in a recent interview with HBO Sports, in which he claimed his 2014 arrest for driving while intoxicated was the product of being “prejudiced against because I’m a rich, white billionaire.”
ESPN’s “First Take” discussed the Irsay interview on Wednesday in largely critical terms, with Kimberley A. Martin saying the interview “bothered me on a lot of levels.” Smith went a step further, calling Irsay “an entitled old brat.”
That went down poorly with Irsay, who threatened “First Take” with legal action in a rambling series of social media posts.
1st take,your gonna get your ass Sued,because there was NO Alcohol,No illegal Drugs/ $29,000 dollars is low for me to be carrying in ,2014 arrest/I give away $2000-$10,000 dollars to the homeless and needed on the street,All the time and pass it on,making the world better❤️
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) November 22, 2023
My Grandparents came across Ellis Island,with just the shirt on their back..penniless and escaping Jewish Concentration Camps… I grew up in a horrible home where both my brother and sister died in a Car Crash in 1971🥲 I worked for my living/bought 30% of the Colts Bank Loan🏈
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) November 22, 2023
And on 1st Take,the Woman that preceded Stephen A… how dare you pretend to know me; I don’t know your name and I don’t care to😡. If my Black Mother Dorthy was still alive..you’d be in some big Hot Water! You are mean and ugly🙃 Your a Nothing Burger😕
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) November 22, 2023
“1st take, your (sic) gonna get your ass Sued,” Irsay wrote, asserting that no alcohol or illegal drugs were involved in the arrest. He also dismissed Martin as “mean and ugly” while adding “I don’t know your name and I don’t care to.”
Irsay appeared to take offense at “First Take” for suggesting that he was driving “drunk,” which he was not accused of at the time. Toxicology reports showed that Irsay had multiple painkillers in his system at the time of the arrest. He failed field sobriety tests, which in the HBO interview he blamed on a recent hip surgery.
Irsay’s 2014 arrest was widely reported on, and he ultimately pled guilty to a misdemeanor. He later served a six-game suspension imposed by commissioner Roger Goodell.
