Stephen A. Smith didn’t mince words when he pointed the finger at Fat Joe for the New York Yankees’ collapse against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2024 World Series, accusing the Bronx rapper of jinxing the team with a botched Game 3 performance at Yankee Stadium.

Appearing on the Joe & Jada podcast on November 25 alongside Jadakiss, Smith dropped the accusation without hesitation: “I blame you for the Yankees losing to the Dodgers last year.” Fat Joe fired back instantly, saying, “You full of s###. Steve, you full of s###.”

Smith, however, stood firm.

“I was very mad at you for doing that s###. You know what I said? No, that’s for the Knicks. That’s not for the Yankees. You ain’t identified with the Yankees,” Steven A. Smith said, making it clear he believed Fat Joe had no business stepping into the Yankees’ World Series spotlight.

The controversy stems from Game 5 of the World Series, where Fat Joe performed during a key moment at Yankee Stadium. What was meant to be a morale boost turned chaotic due to technical issues.

“They put a delay in my sht. Okay. I practiced three times that day. They put a delay in my ears. So, the sht could be f*cked up,” Joe explained during the podcast. He added, “I rehearsed three times that day. It was no delay. When it came on, it was a delay. Now I got to be real with you. Ice Cube’s ‘great day was a good thing.”

That performance quickly became the centerpiece of a growing superstition now dubbed the “Fat Joe Curse.”

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly added fuel to the theory in a post-game interview, saying, “They put Fat Joe up on the board, and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s an easy dub now.’ You know Fat Joe is the curse. And you know, they started kicking the ball around.”

Kelly even claimed he predicted the unraveling in real time: “I’m pretty sure, right before the fifth. I looked over at [Brent] Honeywell and said, ‘The Fat Joe Curse, watch.’ and we started chipping away, chipping away, chipping away. And bad play, bad play, bad play. And I end up getting my second one with the Dodgers.”

The entire saga echoes the long-running “Drake curse”, a superstition that’s haunted athletes and teams for more than a decade. From Serena Williams’ 2015 US Open loss to the Toronto Blue Jays’ recent World Series flop, the Toronto rapper’s presence has been blamed for high-profile sports failures.

That myth has followed Drake to Kentucky basketball, Alabama football and even the Golden State Warriors.

Now, Fat Joe finds himself lumped into that same territory after the Yankees’ championship hopes were derailed in 2024 and his performance was under scrutiny. For a franchise with sky-high expectations, being linked to a rapper’s technical glitch is a new level of sports drama.

The blame game highlights just how deep superstition runs in sports culture. Whether it’s Drake’s courtside antics or Fat Joe’s stage mishap, Hip-Hop figures are increasingly being cast as scapegoats when things go south.

Smith’s comments on the podcast show that even seasoned sports analysts buy into the narrative. When someone with his reach starts pointing fingers, it’s no longer just a joke—it becomes part of the story.