Stephen Anthony Smith, the ESPN host and NBA analyst, has found himself in a curry again after he remarked about Rihanna’s upcoming NFL Super Bowl LVII performance on Sherri Shephard’s day-time talk show saying: “She ain’t Beyonce.”
After the 55-year-old television host was hounded by Rihanna fans, he has come up with an apology in the form of a video.
Also read: Stephen A Smith apologizes in new video for saying Rihanna ‘ain’t Beyonce’: Watch
“I know she’s phenomenal,” Smith says in the video. “And she’s my sister. Nothing but love for her. But Beyoncé is my sister, too. I got love for both of them.”
“I just think that Beyoncé is the greatest performer out there today. That’s me. That doesn’t mean I’m hating on anybody else.”
Smith is one of the highest-paid hosts in US television with a salary of $12 million per year at ESPN.
He makes $8 million per year in salary, while the remaining $4 million comes in the form of a production contract that he has with the broadcaster.
According to publicly available sources, the television host has a net worth of around $16 million.
Smith is neither married nor does he have a partner publicly. He has two daughters outside of wedlock named Samantha and Nyla.
Not much detail on Samantha and Nyla are available publicly, but it is known that they are in their pre-teenage years and Smith is a devoted father who keeps a close tab on their upbringing.
He reportedly forbids them from watching the show ‘First Take’ without his consent as he believes that it would affect them in a way that he would not prefer. It is most likely his decision that his daughters are off the public eye and little about them is known.
