‘She ain’t Beyoncé’ - Sports commentator apologises to Rihanna

A US sports host has apologised to Rihanna for saying she  "ain’t Beyoncé" while discussing the Barbados singer's upcoming NFL Super Bowl half-time appearance. 

Stephen A. Smith, who works as a commentator for ESPN, made the comment on a recent episode of 'The Sherri Show'. Host Sherri Shepherd asked him if he is excited about Rihanna's performance. 

"I don't wanna say I'm not excited. She's fantastic. She's a lot of things... There's one thing she is not, she ain’t Beyoncé," he said.

Beyoncé has made two appearances at the Super Bowl. She performed as a solo act in 2013 and again in 2016 with Coldplay and Bruno Mars. 

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Rihanna is headlining the Super Bowl LVII half-time show on Sunday, February 12.

But Stephen does not think that the 'Umbrella' hitmaker, who last released an album in 2016, measures up to Queen B. 

"Rihanna’s music is fantastic. She’s great. She’s a sister. I love her dearly. I listen to her music. I’m gonna support her until the cows come home. I'm just telling you, for me, there’s Beyoncé and there’s everybody else. Just like there was Michael Jackson and there’s everybody else."

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Stephen received a lot of backlash for his comments, with many people telling him to stick to commenting on football. 

He has since taken to Twitter to apologise for his "horrific mistake". 

"Something that was suppose to be a fun moment on the Sherri Shepard show has gotten out of hand. An overzealous member on my MGMT team — which has access to my account — posted something I would NEVER say about @rihanna, her fans or any other artist," he wrote.

The 55-year-old added that he loves Rihanna.

"And just to be clear, I’m a huge fan. Sherri and I were just having fun. That is all."

He also released a video apology telling Rihanna she is a superstar who is a worthy person to be doing the half-time show.

Main image credit: Instagram/@badgalriri, @fentybeauty, @nfl