Comedian Leslie Jones torched ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith for dissing singer Rihanna in advance of her Super Bowl halftime performance in February.
Smith, the host of ESPN’s franchise show “First Take,” told Sherri Shepherd on her eponymous show that he was not exactly looking forward to seeing Rihanna’s show because “she’s ain’t Beyoncé” who is the standard bearer.
“I don’t want to say I’m not excited. She’s fantastic,” Smith explained, then added: “There’s one thing she’s not: She ain’t Beyonce.”
Jones was infuriated with Smith’s unprovoked and unnecessary dig at Rihanna and stormed after him while guest hosting “The Daily Show.”
“Dude, No!” she exclaimed. “Why would you do this to yourself? You know what, Stephen A. Smith? You need to act like your hairline and back the f— off!”
A few hours after the “Sherri” show aired on Monday, Jan. 16, following the intense blowback from Rihanna supporters, Smith cowered and offered an apology. That’s the good news. The bad news is the way that he apologized.
This time, Smith called Rihanna a “superstar” and “sensational.” However, Smith added this closing remark: “Good luck, sweetie. Looking forward to see you perform.”
Jones was “Oh how dare you call Rihanna ‘sweetie’! You calling her ‘sweetie’ like you know her. She don’t know you. But you know who she does know? Beyoncé!”
