ESPN First Take commentator Stephen A. Smith got a front-row seat into what it looks like to be bashed by the Rihanna Navy when he gave his two cents on the actress doing the Super Bowl halftime show.
Smith appeared on the Sherri Shepherd Show on January 18th. He got asked what he thought of Rihanna doing the coveted Super Bowl halftime, and his answer was found lacking. Sherri Shepherd asked if Smith was excited about the upcoming performance, to which he replied that he was not “not excited” because he knew Rihanna would be great, but he landed the blow, saying that Rihanna is not Beyonce. The statement immediately earned him resonating boos from the studio audience. The fans were offended on behalf of the artist and dragged Smith online, especially on Twitter. Fans say the statement was inappropriate and a classic example of pitting women against each other when there is no reason to.
Fans can recall that Beyonce has performed at the Super Bowl multiple times, both solo and with other artists. On the other hand, Rihanna’s upcoming performance this year (2023) is her first halftime show. It is why her fans are enraged at Stephen A. Smith for comparing her to another singer.
Following the backlash, Smith issued a video apology on his Twitter account, saying that he thinks Rihanna is worthy of doing the halftime show for Super Bowl. However, fans still found his apology lacking as he never specifically said sorry for his remarks towards the actress, instead saying, “I apologize for creating whatever bruhaha comes of this. I got to be more careful where people twist it and turn it into something it ain’t. My bad on that.” He ended the video by saying, “good luck, sweetie,” to Rihanna. Fans are quick to point out that it was a weak apology that did not sound sincere at all, and was done to placate everyone.
Netizens weighed in on Twitter, saying that Smith is “forced” to apologize because of all the hate he is receiving. One Twitter user said, “His delivery is deliberate – punchline just wasn’t funny. He isn’t sorry.” A couple of other netizens pointed out that Smith’s actions were like what Kanye did to Taylor Swift at the VMAs in 2009, where Kanye interrupted Swift’s acceptance award to say that she did not deserve it and it should have gone to Beyonce. Ironically, in both instances, other successful women were compared to Beyonce. A netizen wrote about it, “Why do men feel compelled to have women fight? Especially artists…. like, art is subjective, and there is NO competition. What are you doing?”
Some fans agree with Smith that the two artists are nothing alike, but they did not appreciate why he had to use them in his punchline as if one is better than the other. Because of his one comment, the backlash against Smith will not be easily forgotten anytime soon. But the issue has only encouraged fans to watch Rihanna’s upcoming performance on the anticipated halftime show.