Stephen A. Smith has apologized to Rihanna after suggesting her upcoming Super Bowl halftime show won’t compare to Beyoncé’s previous performances.
“I’m gonna own it,” Smith, 55, said in a video posted to social media following backlash from the Navy. “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.”
He went on, “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.
“I’m a Beyoncé fan. I think that Beyoncé is not only a phenomenal performer, but the phenomenal performer. The only reason any kind of comparison came into play is because Beyoncé performed at halftime at the Super Bowl, not just by herself [in 2013], but one separate performance with Bruno Mars and Coldplay [in 2016] — and I thought those were two of the greatest shows that I’ve ever seen.”
The ESPN talking head added, “I meant it as no disrespect to Rihanna. I know she is phenomenal and she is my sister. Nothing but love for her, but Beyoncé is my sister too. I got love for the both of them. I just think that Beyoncé is the greatest performer out there today. That’s me, that doesn’t mean I’m hating on anybody else and that doesn’t mean I’m damn well wishing for Rihanna to fail. I think she’s going to be great.”
“Rihanna, go do your thing. I apologize for creating whatever brouhaha comes of this. I gotta be more careful, where people twist it and turn it into something it ain’t. My bad on that.”
Smith appeared on daytime talk show Sherri Wednesday, where he was asked about Riri’s upcoming performance and couldn’t help but compare her to Queen Bey.
“I don’t want to say I’m not excited, she’s fantastic, that’s not where I’m going with this. Ladies and gentlemen, she’s a lot of things, she’s spectacular actually — and congratulations on the new mama hood — there’s one thing she’s not, she ain’t Beyoncé.”