The always-entertaining Stephen A Smith got himself into trouble again of late after making some rather controversial comments about Rihanna and her upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show performance. The outspoken ESPN anchor was criticized for what many consider to be a dig at Rihanna after Smith compared her to Beyonce ahead of the former's highly-anticipated halftime performance for Super Bowl LVII.
“She ain't Beyonce.” This was Smith's statement about Rihanna on a recent episode of daytime talks how Sherri. Stephen A has unsurprisingly been bombarded with condemnation, to which he has now responded by apologizing to Rihanna:
“I'm gonna own it,” Smith said. “I know what y'all trying to do, but I'm gonna own it because I get paid to speak for a living, so I need to be more careful. I want Rihanna to know: you're a superstar. You're sensational. You're spectacular. You're no joke. And you are a worthy person to be doing the Super Bowl halftime show.”
Smith then went on a lengthy rant explaining his side of the story. He said that he is merely a huge fan of Beyonce and her performances in the Super Bowl, and that in his mind, every other artist will need to live up to the bar that Beyonce set. Stephen A made it abundantly clear that he meant no slight for Rihanna.
“I meant it as no disrespect to Rihanna,” Smith continued. “I know she's phenomenal, and she's my sister. Nothing but love for her. But Beyonce is my sister, too. I got love for both of them. I just think that Beyonce is the greatest performer out there today. That's me. That doesn't mean that I'm hating on anybody else. Doesn't mean I'm damn sure wishing for Rihanna to fail. I don't believe she's gonna fail. She's gonna be great.”
Smith ended his three-minute monologue by issuing a sincere apology to Rihanna:
“Rihanna, go do your thing,” Smith said. “I apologize for creating whatever brouhaha comes of this. I gotta be more careful with people trying to twist it and turn it into something it ain't. My bad on that.”
Apologies to Rihanna for my words, gotta be more careful! pic.twitter.com/RLcsaQAJ4v
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) January 18, 2023
What this does is that it puts a bigger spotlight on Rihanna's upcoming performance in the Super Bowl Halftime Show. It's going to put more pressure on her too, and whether or not this will work in her favor remains to be seen.
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