CNN's Bakari Sellers Tells 'Shark Tank' Star Kevin O'Leary 'Don't Be a D---' in Supreme Court Clash

CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers told Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary "Don't be a d---" on Monday during a panel discussion reacting to a Supreme Court ruling on voting maps.

The Supreme Court cleared the way for Alabama to adopt a new House map before the 2026 midterms. The decision lets the state drop one of its two majority-Black districts, the Associated Press reported.

O'Leary responded to the ruling by saying, "I think everybody should take confidence in the fact the Supreme Court basically supported one vote, one person guaranteed in perpetuity, and the rest is just map wars." He added, "And I think we should get used to it. And I think it's, as you said, a state-based situation. Add this to the mix. At the end of the day, the state decides at the state level. It's in the Constitution. Get over it."

Sellers hit back. "There is an entire generation of people, Brown v. Board, it overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. And my point is that my mother was born in 1951. She desegregated schools. My father was shot in the civil rights movement," he said. He then told O'Leary, "I'm going to finish because you're being utterly disrespectful."

Sellers pressed on. "So, I'm going to finish this comment. So, what I'm telling you is that there are people in this country who fought, died, and bled for the right to vote. Don't be a d---, just understand."

O'Leary said the Constitution was being upheld and asked if Sellers had a problem with it.

CNN host Abby Phillip intervened. "Hold on a second. Bakari, I'm going to stop you, because I just want everybody to reset with a modicum of respect at this table," she said. "Please stop, OK?"

Sellers replied to O'Leary, "I want you to understand that there's a price that was paid for this right. There is a price that we uphold." He continued, "Whether or not you value that or not, there are people who bled, sweat, and died, and were in prison for access to the ballot box. What we're seeing throughout the South is that their voice, their vote, their representation, and people who have lived experiences to represent them are not being sent to Congress or where they need to go."

O'Leary countered that they still had access to the ballot box.

In a related ruling, the Supreme Court limited a key Voting Rights Act provision on how states draw districts for minority voters. The justices voted 6-3 that Louisiana's 2024 congressional map, redrawn with a second majority-Black district, amounted to an illegal racial gerrymander. The decision restricts states' use of race in drawing congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms and narrows Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.