Stephen A. Smith Recalls Jay-Z’s Reaction To His Rihanna “Ain’t Beyoncé” Remarks 

Jay-Z doesn’t play about his family as Stephen A. Smith found when Hov checked him for comparing Beyoncé to Rihanna. 

The renowned sports journalist went viral after sharing his belief that Rhianna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance would be outshined by Beyoncé’s previous turn at the coveted slot.  

Smith addressed the fallout during an appearance on the Connect the Dots podcast on Monday (March 4).  

“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 Beyonce,” Smith said – seemingly repeating his earlier take.  

However, he revealed Jay-Z pulled him up on his remarks in a telephone call. 

“A month later, Hov  and I were on the phone,” Smith added. “Hov was like, ‘My dawg, you family, that’s family. That’s too close to say that’…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.” 

Stephen A Smith said celebs and industry people stopped talking to him after he was on TV debating about Rihanna and Beyonce until Jay-Z gave him a call. pic.twitter.com/ZgLk7sC8WF

— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) March 5, 2024

Jay-Z’s call followed Smith claiming the Roc Nation artist, “ain’t Beyoncé,” during a chat on Sherri. 

“I don’t want to say I’m not excited, she’s fantastic, that’s not where I’m going with this,” he said referring to news of Rihanna’s performance. “Ladies and gentlemen, she’s a lot of things, she’s spectacular actually — and congratulations on the new mama hood — there’s one thing she’s not, she ain’t Beyoncé.”