Steph Curry Asks For, And Gets, Apologies From Manosphere

Back in the old days, talking about a man’s wife was off-limits and could easily get you beat up.

But in today’s toxic social media climate, wives are fair game, especially in the manosphere — the male podcast culture that often spends more time gossiping about and berating women than providing information or empowerment to its male listeners.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry recently had to address multiple podcasters over their criticism of his wife, Ayesha, who was discussed on both The Speakeasy, hosted by former NFL players Emmanuel Acho and LeSean McCoy, and We Said What We Said, hosted by former NBA players Gilbert Arenas and Nick Young.

This year, Ayesha, 37, announced that she would star in a Roku movie, Second Chance Holiday, one of the many Christmas-themed films that start rolling out around this time of year. In the movie, she reconnects with her high school sweetheart, and, as these stories tend to go, they likely end up happily ever after. But podcasts including The Speakeasy and We Said What We Said took issue with the trailer, which features a clip of Ayesha’s character kissing her co-star.

On Nov. 7, Arenas and Young spent about 17 minutes discussing Ayesha. Arenas called her the family’s only “blemish,” claiming she “doesn’t act like the other superstars’ wives” and unfavorably comparing her to LeBron James’ wife, Savannah.

Young said he would never let his own wife kiss another man, even for a film or television role. Acho also discussed the movie on The Speakeasy, while co-host McCoy accused Ayesha of “seeking attention.”

Curry, 38, who has rarely addressed podcasters publicly or appeared on their shows, finally responded to the criticism this week, releasing a video on his Instagram page.

“I’ve been hearing a lot of noise, and usually the noise doesn’t bother me, doesn’t bother Ayesha, but this one in particular — when you’re trying to step on the accomplishments of my wife, and obviously needing podcast tapings and topics and giving opinions on somebody else’s wife — Nick, [Gilbert], Emmanuel, and anybody else who feels the need to want to have to jump in and give an opinion on something you don’t really know about and kinda speaks to a bigger conversation on how you view women in this world and what they’re allowed and what they’re not allowed to do,” Curry said in the video.

“Obviously, I tried to laugh this one off, but something needs to be said. And anytime Ayesha Curry shows up in your headline, I kindly suggest you just give the happy hands, the congratulations, and maybe, just maybe, the apology can be as loud as y’all leading y’all shows with this topic.”

Curry thanked the podcasters for the “free pub,” adding that the movie was currently available to watch on Roku. Ayesha’s co-star, Matthew Daddario, also showed his support, commenting on the video, “Great response.”

Although the couple, who share four children, celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary in July, Ayesha remains a popular target for podcasters. Some of her comments over the years have rubbed people the wrong way.

She has previously said that she sometimes misses receiving male attention outside of her marriage. She also playfully pantomimed taking off her wedding ring while appearing on The Real when a shirtless man came through the set serving drinks.

The podcasters also revisited an old clip from Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk. During a 2019 appearance on the show, Ayesha opened up about sometimes missing male attention.

“Something that really bothers me, and honestly has given me a sense of a little bit of an insecurity, is the fact that yeah, there are all these women, like, throwing themselves [at Steph] … But me, like, the past 10 years, I don’t have any of that. I have zero — this sounds weird — but, like, male attention. And so then, I begin to internalize it. And I’m like, is something wrong with me?”

She added, “I don’t want it, but it would be nice to know that someone’s looking.”

During an appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast in August 2025, Ayesha also discussed how she never initially envisioned getting married or having children. The Toronto native had pursued a career in the arts since she was 3 years old. She recalled wanting to reignite her career a year after her oldest daughter, Riley, was born, but said Steph didn’t always understand where she was coming from. Those comments sparked another round of criticism, with some labeling her “ungrateful.”

After Curry’s response went viral, racking up millions of views, the podcasters he called out offered what could generously be described as half-hearted apologies.

Young, who won an NBA championship alongside Curry in 2017-18, said, “I’m sorry, Steph. You my dog; I love you. If I said anything, I apologize like a man. I’m sorry.”

Arenas initially defended himself, saying, “This is exactly why I made the comment, because he’s a professional … If you gotta judge this family, the only blemish is the things that his wife has said.”

He later added, “I’m sorry if he’s offended. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Hours later, on The Speakeasy, Acho offered an apology as well, saying he didn’t intend to be insulting.

Watch the trailer for Second Chance Holiday below: