Stephen A. Smith has revealed Jay-Z had a word with him about the comments he made comparing Rihanna to his wife, Beyoncé.
During his sit-down conversation with the Connect the Dots podcast, the legendary sports journalist recalled when Hov had to give him some advice regarding him downplaying Rihanna's Super Bowl LVII Halftime performance and claiming there's only one Beyoncé in an interview last year.
"I love Rihanna. I bought her album, she gets my money. Mad love for her, wish her nothing but the best … But you do know there's only one Beyoncé," Smith said recapping his initial statement and revealing some "Hollywood stars" were upset with his comments and never spoke to him again.
Smith said he couldn't understand why he comments would make anyone upset but realized where he was wrong once the Roc Nation boss stepped in to clear the air.
"A month later, Hov and I were on the phone. Hov was like, 'My dawg, you family, that's family. That's too close to say that.' I said, 'I didn't know.' He said, 'I know.' Done!," Smith said. "In other words, it's a business, it's a part of it, you don't know how she'll receive it, etc. etc. etc. That's all he had to say. I appreciated that."
Smith made his controversial statement comparing Rihanna and Beyoncé during an appearance on The Sherri Show in 2023, ahead of RiRi's Super Bowl Performance.
"There's one thing she's not, she ain't Beyoncé," he said before the audience gave him a round of boos. "The only reason I brought up Beyoncé is because Beyoncé recently performed at the Super Bowl."
Smith later issued an apology to Rihanna saying, "I'm gonna own it. I know what y'all tryna do but I'm gon' own it because I get paid to speak for a living so I need to be more careful. 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."
