Stephen A. Smith clarified his response to Rihanna‘s upcoming Super Bowl halftime gig — and addressed these Beyoncé comparisons.
The sports activities journalist, 55, initially confronted backlash after he weighed in on Rihanna’s deliberate efficiency.
“I don’t want to say I’m not excited. She’s fantastic. That’s not where I’m going with this. She’s a lot of things. She’s spectacular,” the New York native mentioned throughout an look on Sherri, which aired on Wednesday, January 18. “There’s one thing she’s not. She ain’t Beyoncé. The only reason I brought up Beyoncé is because Beyoncé recently performed at the Super Bowl. And without Bruno Mars and Coldplay.”
Smith later praised the “Umbrella” singer, 34, on the speak present for her “fantastic” music, including, “I’m just telling you for me, there’s Beyoncé and there’s everybody else.”
Shortly after clips from the interview went viral, Smith took to social media to difficulty an apology.
“I’m gonna own it. I know what y’all trying to do. But I’m going to own it because I get paid to speak for a living, so I need to be more careful,” he mentioned in an Instagram video on Wednesday. “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.”
The TV persona claimed that the difficulty to his response got here from Sherri Shepherd‘s viewers being largely feminine.
“Now I’m a Beyoncé fan. I think that Beyoncé is not only a phenomenal performer, but the phenomenal performer,” he continued. “And the only reason any kind of comparison came into play is because Beyoncé performed at halftime at the Super Bowl not just by herself, but one separate Super Bowl performance with Bruno Mars and Coldplay. And I thought that those were two of the greatest shows that I’ve ever seen.”
Smith famous that “anybody has to measure up” to the Texas native, 41. “Anybody who does a Super Bowl halftime show, forever I’m gonna say, ‘Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, and Beyoncé by themselves,’” he concluded. “Michael Jackson could still be alive and I would say, ‘It’s gotta measure up to that.’”
The radio host additionally walked again his feedback by referring to it as a “horrific mistake,” tweeting, “Something that was supposed to be a fun moment on the Sherri Shepard show has gotten out of hand. An overzealous member on my MGMT team — which has access to my account — posted something I would NEVER say about @rihanna, her fans or any other artist.”
Smith added: “The post has been removed. My social management team will never make a mistake like this again. My apologies again to @Rihanna. And just to be clear, I’m a huge fan. Sherri and I were just having fun. That is all.”
Following a hiatus from performing dwell and 6 years since her final album, Rihanna might be making a comeback in the course of the sporting occasion on February 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The occasion comes almost a 12 months for the reason that Fenty Beauty founder gave delivery to her first baby, a child boy, with boyfriend A$AP Rocky.
The rapper, 34, lately gushed about his girlfriend’s upcoming gig. “I’m so glad that my lady’s back making music again and whatnot, and getting back out there,” he advised Zane Lowe on Wednesday. “It’s just incredible. The Super Bowl is huge, and her being the creative she is, she going to bring it, man. I’m excited. I’m more excited than everybody else, honestly.”
Rihanna, for her half, defined how motherhood impressed her to say sure to the chance.
“I feel like it was now or never, really,” she advised Extra in November 2022. “There’s this weird s—t that happens when you become a mom — that you just unleash or unlock other parts of your superpower. I wanted to take on the challenge and I wanted to do something that would force me to get back onstage.”
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