Stephen A. Smith walked again the feedback he made evaluating Rihanna to Beyoncé on Wednesday (Jan. 18).
The second occurred when the firebrand sports activities commentator stopped by Sherri Shepherd’s eponymous speak present to debate the “Wanted Me” singer’s upcoming Tremendous Bowl LVII halftime present. “Girls and gents, she’s a number of issues; she’s spectacular, really,” he stated. “There’s one factor she’s not: She ain’t Beyoncé.”
Clearly, the ill-suited comparability sparked a vocal outcry from the studio viewers — in addition to backlash amongst Rihanna’s followers on social media — and hours after the interview aired, Smith hopped on Instagram able to eat crow. “I’m gonna personal it,” he stated. “I do know what y’all tryin’ to do. However I’m gon’ personal it as a result of I receives a commission to talk for a residing, so I must be extra cautious.
“I need Rihanna to know: You’re a famous person, you’re sensational, you’re spectacular,” the ESPN character continued. “You’re no joke. And you’re a worthy particular person to be doing the Tremendous Bowl halftime present.”
Nevertheless, Smith then tried to justify his remark by blaming Shepherd for asking a query in entrance of her largely feminine studio viewers. “Now I’m a Beyoncé fan,” he said. “I feel that Beyoncé will not be solely an exceptional performer, however the phenomenal performer. And the one purpose any type of comparability got here into play is as a result of Beyoncé carried out at halftime on the Tremendous Bowl not simply by herself, however one separate Tremendous Bowl efficiency with Bruno Mars and Coldplay. And I believed that these have been two of the best exhibits that I’ve ever seen.
“So what I’m saying is anyone has to measure as much as that,” he concluded. “Final 12 months with Snoop and Dre and Mary J. and Eminem, I used to be like, ‘Bruno Mars! Beyoncé! Coldplay! Huge time! They’ve received to measure as much as that.’ Anyone who does a Tremendous Bowl halftime present, endlessly I’m gonna say, ‘Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, and Beyoncé by themselves.’ Michael Jackson might nonetheless be alive and I might say, ‘It’s gotta measure as much as that.’”
Watch Smith’s gasp-inducing Sherri interview and subsequent mea culpa to Rihanna under.
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