Stephen A. Smith says Rihanna diss was 'just for fun' in apology video

Media personality Stephen A Smith has always had a way with words. For the most part, the better, but a slip-up by what he calls his management team has left him red-faced and having to apologize to singer Rihanna and her fanbase.

Talking about the Super Bowl halftime show with Sherri Shepard on the Sherri Shepard Show, Stephen A stated that while Rihanna was great, she is no Beyonce.

Watch below

Stephen A Smith said "She ain't Beyoncé" in reference to @rihanna Super Bowl performance.

How do you feel about Smith grossly pitting two incredibly talent black women against each other? 🤯🤬 twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/qLItKkmmeQ

This clearly riled up Rihanna's fan base and forced the ESPN star to issue a public apology. He posted a message on his Twitter page which read:

"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. The post…Has been removed. My social management team will never make a mistake like this again. My apologies again to @Rihanna. And just to be clear, I’m a huge fan. Sherri and I were just having fun. That is all."

Apologies to Rihanna for my words, gotta be more careful! https://t.co/RLcsaQAJ4v

Stephen A Smith has had a tough few days

The last few days haven't exactly been the best for the First Take host. Travelling to Tampa Bay to watch the Buccaneers take on the Dallas Cowboys, he even wore a Bucs jersey and hoped for Dallas to fall flat on their face.

They didn't. Dak Prescott torched the Buccaneers secondary as he accounted for five total touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) in what was a dominant 31-14 win.

As expected, he had to take his medicine on ESPN and we can imagine how tough that would have been.

Now with the Rihanna slip up, it has not been the best of times for Stephen A Smith and he would surely like to choose his words more carefully. Usually so good with what he does for a living, this is a slip up and nothing more from Stephen A Smith.

But try telling that to Rihanna's millions of fans worldwide.