Stephen A. Smith Claims Jay-Z Checked Him for Comparing Beyoncé and Rihanna

Sports show host Stephen A. Smith claims Jay-Z once checked him for comparing Beyoncé and Rihanna.

Stephen A. Smith Says Jay-Z Checked Him for Beyoncé and Rihanna Comparison

On Wednesday (March 6), Stephen A. Smith was a guest on the Connect The Dots Podcast, where he talked about growing up in Queens, N.Y., being the face of ESPN and his relationship with Hov. At one point during the sit-down, which can be seen below, Smith recalled a time he received some tough love from Jigga after he opined that Rihanna's 2023 Super Bowl halftime show performance would not hold a candle to Beyoncé's halftime show set in 2013.

"A month later, Hov and I were on the phone," Smith revealed around the 14:30 mark of the interview below. "Hov was like, 'My dawg, you family, that’s family. That’s too close for you to say that.' I said, 'I didn’t know.' He said, 'I know.' Done! 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. He wasn't mad at me or nothing like that. He was just saying the to me."

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Jay-Z Gives DDG Advice

Stephen A. Smith is the second person to recently reveal some sound advice he received from Jay-Z. Last month, DDG revealed during an interview on The Jason Lee Show that Hov gave him some advice during a birthday party in the form of an analogy.

"I was like, 'What advice could you give me as an artist?'" DDG said. "He gave me an analogy. 'If people go to a Chinese restaurant, they're expecting Chinese food. So give the people what they came for' type s**t."

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See Stephen A. Smith recalling Jay-Z checking him for comparing Beyoncé and Rihanna below.

Watch Stephen A. Smith on the Connect the Dots Podcast