Hi @wegosi,
If you try to hide these buttons by (un)checking this BuddyPress option with the default WordPress themes, you will see that they’re still appearing. We think that this issue is more related with the wording of this option rather than the way it’s working. It might seem a bit confusing but we think that this option only remove the ability to comment blog posts directly from the activity stream, not the commenting of activities themselves.
If you wish to learn more about this issue, the following BuddyPress forum topic might help you to solve it as it seems to answer the same concern:
https://buddypress.org/support/topic/activity-stream-commenting-on-blog-posts/
https://buddypress.org/support/topic/disable-comments-in-activity/
We could be wrong though… ?♂️
As this issue is related with the BuddyPress, it’s best if you try to reach the plugin authors. They will be more informed and better suited to help you.
To go further, we invite you to post your request on their support forums:
https://buddypress.org/support/
We remain available for all support requests related with the use of your theme.
Best,