Is Stephen A Smith beefing with Rihanna? ESPN host’s Super Bowl drama explained

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith is well-known for being opinionated and stirring up controversy with his stance on certain topics. This time, it wasn't an athlete that he offended but superstar Rihanna. Smith was a guest on Sherri Shepherd's talk show this week, where he insulted Rihanna by comparing her to Beyonce.

While Rihanna's fans were quick to defend her honor, Smith knew he was clearly in trouble. The ESPN co-host took to his Twitter page on Wednesday afternoon with a video apology to Rihanna.

In the video, he said that he has to be more careful with what he says and that he "owns" what he said. He went on to say that Rihanna is a musical sensation and a spectacular artist. and finished by saying that she was worthy of being chosen to be a Super Bowl halftime performer.

“Apologies to Rihanna for my words, gotta be more careful. I’m gonna own it. I know what y’all trying to do, but I’m gonna 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.”

Needless to say, Stephen A. Smith has learned not to take on Rihanna and her loyal fan base.

What did Stephen A. Smith say about Rihanna?

With an apology from Stephen A. Smith, some were still unaware of what he said to make Rihanna's fan base so livid. When asked by talk show host Sherri Shepherd about Rihanna's upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance, he said that while the superstar is fantastic, she is "no Beyonce".

“There’s one thing she’s not, she ain’t Beyoncé."

When the live audience expressed their feelings about his comments, he defended them by saying that he only compared the two singers because Beyonce was a recent Super Bowl halftime performer.

“The only reason I brought up Beyoncé is because Beyoncé recently performed at the Super Bowl.”

The National Football League announced just a few months ago that Rihanna would be the performer for Super Bowl LVII in February in Glendale, Arizona. The Grammy Award-winning superstar has reportedly turned down the opportunity multiple times in the past but felt that this was the right time to perform at one of the country's biggest events.