J.R. Smith Calls Out Cam Newton For Royce Reed Interview

Former basketball star J.R. Smith called out Cam Newton for grilling Royce Reed on some sensitive topics connected to her ex-partner Dwight Howard during his Funky Friday talk show, and Dwight offered some thoughts of his own, hinting that Cam might be desperate for cash.

Source: Prince Williams/WireImage/ Desiree Navarro/ Jon Kopaloff / Getty

J.R. Smith Calls Out Cam Newton

Earlier this week, J.R. Smith slammed Newton, for asking “corny” questions about whether Howard, 39, was gay or ever intimate with men during his relationship with Royce.

“Respectfully this is hella corny Cam, bringing on a Black woman to kill a Black man is never cool, don’t care who’s right or wrong,” Smith wrote on Instagram, according to a screenshot obtained by The Neighborhood Talk.

“All clickbait ain’t good clickbait. This ain’t love,” he added.

Newton, offended by Smith’s comment, clapped back:

“Call it what you want. Respectfully… I don’t go back n forth in no comments… I ain’t hard to find sir…”

Reed Claimed Howard Was “Curious” About Sleeping With Men

The internet reacted with surprise following Friday’s episode, where Newton asked Reed—who had dated Howard for nearly three years and shares a teenage son with the Los Angeles Lakers player—if he had ever seen the NBA champion engage in “gay sh*t” with other men.

Reed, 44, told the ex-NFL quarterback that she thinks Howard may have been “curious” about sleeping with other men in the past.

“I have never witnessed him doing it,” the former NBA cheerleader clarified at the 1:26:14 minute mark; however, when asked if she ever witnessed Howard in bed with another man, Royce responded:

“Yeah. All the time,” without hesitation.

Reed, 44, alleged that during COVID-19 quarantine with Howard, his children, and fellow baby momma Christine Vest, she saw him take mushrooms while in bed with another man. She described how they supposedly began “moaning and touching themselves,” sharing the details during the interview at the 1:29:00 mark.

“But they say that’s an effect of taking mushrooms. I didn’t take them. I pretended to but I didn’t. I spit them right out,” she continued.

“When this would happen, it was like, late. So they [the children] were done for the night, but again, I didn’t take it. I was of sound mind.”

According to the College Girls author, Howard had a particular type of man he would invite over, describing them as not overtly gay but rather “straight-ish.”

As you can imagine, Dwight Howard caught wind of the interview and was displeased.

Amy Luciani, Dwight Howard/ Source: Sarah Stier / Getty

Hit the flip for his reaction.

Dwight Howard not so subtly called out Cam on X.

Source: Unique Nicole / Getty

“A lot of snakes in this game that would do anything for views when they are broke smh,” he wrote Tuesday.

 

“But it’s this year of the snakes. Happy Lunar Year,” he added in a follow-up tweet.

Dwight’s words came after Cam admitted on an episode of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test that it’s hard to feel like a “Superman” to his eight children after losing his NFL salary.

“Being in the NFL, everyone knows there’s a large sum of money that comes to you in a short span of time and being away from the game for three years, those checks don’t come in the same. Like I got eight kids,” said Cam. “It hurts me knowing that I can’t provide like I once did,” Newton said per PEOPLE. “It hurts thinking that I’m Superman, but in reality, I’m just a man.”

Cam Newton has yet to respond to Dwight’s diss.

Royce Reed Recently Launched A GoFundMe To Cover Expenses Tied To Her Ongoing Legal Battle With Howard

Reed’s explosive appearance on Funky Friday comes a few weeks after she launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover legal fees related to her ongoing cease-and-desist battle with Howard. The legal troubles reportedly stem from Reed’s Instagram account, created in 2024, where she has been publicly calling out the NBA champ. She launched the “I Had A Baby By Superman” page, which features a nine-part exposé accusing Howard of “deadbeat” behavior, threats, and physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. However, bills tied to the legal case are allegedly adding up, she claimed.

“The bills I’ve accumulated dealing with this man are insurmountable. That’s where my courage came from,” Royce’s GoFundMe campaign read. “That’s why I chose to speak. But also because there’s a new agreement. I am now being threatened with yet ANOTHER LAWSUIT because they want to take away my voice again and silence me.”

Wow, this is a lot to unpack. Watch the full interview above. Thoughts?