Ice Cube Approves Of Stephen A. Smith Recreating 'Next Friday' Scene On 'First Take'

Ice Cube had a good morning laugh thanks to Stephen A. Smith and Michael Irvin, who were on First Take and recreated a hilarious scene from Next Friday.

On the Monday (January 9) broadcast of First Take, Stephen A. Smith and three-time Super Bowl champion Michael Irving opened the show by recreating the scene from Next Friday where Pinky, played by Clifton Powell, confronts Ice Cube’s character Craig Jones.

Smith was teasing Irvin over the Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday (January 8). Irvin played his entire 11-year career with the Cowboys, and Smith would never waste an opportunity to drag Dallas since he’s an avid New York Giants fan.

Irvin stood as still as rock while Stephen A grilled him from the side as the camera zoomed in on them to open the show.

“Shut up,” Stephen A. Smith barked at Michael Irvin while he was stumbling on his words. “Shut up! What happened to the Cowboys yesterday? What happened to them? Shut up! Say another word and this is over.”

He added: “What happened to the running game huh? What happened to the running game? Shut up!

Cube saw the clip and gave his stamp of approval over the rendition of the hilarious scene.

“They did that,” the West Coast rap legend said in a retweet of the clip.

Next Friday was released in 2000 and served as the first film produced under Cube‘s film production company, Cubevision. The rapper wrote, produced, and starred in the film, with a cast that also included Mike Epps, the late John Witherspoon, Tamala Jones and more.

The film was the sequel to Friday, which was released in 1995. A third movie was released in 2002, titled Friday After Next, and all three were box-office successes.

Last month, Ice Cube said he felt the first Friday film was the most “impactful” out of the trilogy thanks to its message surrounding gun violence. Cube and his Mount Westmore colleagues E-40 and Too $hort stopped by LL COOL J’sRock The Bells Radio show, where they touched on the Death Certificate MC’s iconic movie franchise.

During their lengthy discussion, LL asked Cube about the seminal moment in the first Friday film between Cube and the late John Witherspoon, who advises Cube’s character, Craig, to put down his gun and use his fists instead. Ice Cube said that scene alone made the first Friday film stand out from its subsequent sequels.

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“It was an important scene and that’s why the first Friday is so impactful over the other ones,” Cube said at the 47-minute mark. “Because if you look at the other ones, they don’t have that moment in the movie.

“So it took a comedy and it took the laughter, and it was a teachable moment. It was dramatic in a movie that was so funny. It was impactful because what he was saying was some real shit.”

He continued: “It’s cool because it was like, ‘Yo, I would have never moved in this neighborhood if you needed a goddamn gun to walk down the street.’ That’s impactful. Before Friday, shit was so crazy in the hood when I had it written that [Witherspoon] was like, ‘You going down the street? Take this [gun] with you.'”