Stephen A. Smith may need to stick to making sports fans upset because the Rihanna Navy is a different BEAST, and the recent shade he threw at RiRi may have him at the top of their hit list.
While promoting his new book, Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes, on the “Sherri” show, Stephen was asked if he was excited about Rihanna performing at the SB LVII Halftime Show, and he fixed his lips to respond, “She ain’t Beyoncé.”
I don’t want to say I’m not excited, she is 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 new mamahood.
There’s one thing she’s not!… She ain’t Beyonce.
The crowd instantly started booing, and Stephen A. attempted to redeem himself, but the damage had already been done.
The only reason I brought up Beyoncé is because Beyoncé recently performed at the Super Bowl.
And without Bruno Mars and ColdPlay…
Stephen A. continued to try to clean up his verbal mess, but he just dug a deeper hole by implying that Rihanna is not on Beyoncé’s level.
…That’s not throwing shade on them. That’s appreciating their greatness but understanding there’s levels, you know?…
And Rihanna’s music is fantastic, she’s great, she’s a sister, I love her dearly, I listen to her music, I’m going to support her until the cows come home.
I’m just telling you for me, there’s Beyoncé and then there’s everybody else, just like it was Michael Jackson, and it was everybody else.
Watch the clip from the “Sherri” show below:
Stephen A. Smith knows how to rile people up, and even though he is entitled to his opinion, you don’t do RiRi like that.
He may not know the power of the Rihanna Navy, but he will soon find out.
The streets of Twitter are buzzing as people react to Stephen’s remarks.
One person tweeted, “Stephen Smith & whoever else need to stop with the comparisons. We love Beyonce and Rihanna for diff reasons and they are both stars and shine in their own lanes! KEEP MY CURRY GOAT EMPRESS NAME OUT UR MOUTH! or imma call my peeps to turn u into a raccoon.”
See a few more tweets below.
We wish RiRi all the best with her SB LVII Halftime performance.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the convo on our socials. (Facebook, Instagram).
