Bethenny Frankel critiques Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show: ‘Good not great’
Bethenny Frankel wasn’t wowed by Rihanna’s Super Bowl 2023 halftime show.
The “Real Housewives of New York City” alum found the 34-year-old’s performance “good not great,” she admitted in an Instagram video Monday.
The former reality star recalled once attending a Rihanna concert the same month she saw Pink live, calling the “Umbrella” singer a “much less inspired” performer than the 43-year-old rocker.
“It wasn’t even comparable,” Frankel, 52, said. “Pink was just so incredibly passionate.”
As for Sunday’s show, the ex Bravolebrity noted that taking the stage while pregnant with baby No. 2 “could not have been easy” for Rihanna.
Despite her lukewarm reaction to the gig, Frankel clarified that she considers Rihanna a “winner” whether her “performance was amazing or not” because her makeup company, Fenty Beauty, “won the Super Bowl in the beauty category.”
The “ReWives” podcast host explained, “Rihanna was touching up with her makeup, and her whole entire makeup brand flew and paid for all these influencers to go to the Super Bowl.
“They’re going to do hundreds of millions of dollars in sales,” she predicted.
Frankel included one last dig at the Grammy winner in her caption, writing that “many [viewers] could have done without” Rihanna’s “token touch (and sniff) of her vagina.”
Other celebs, however, bowed down to the songwriter after her medley at State Farm Stadium of “Diamonds,” “Work” and more hits.
Not only did Andy Cohen call Rihanna “unbelievable,” but Ellen DeGeneres referred to the halftime show as the “best … ever.”
As for SZA, the singer gushed over the “inspiring” Savage x Fenty creator, tweeting, “The HITS RIH HAS ARE UNF–KWITTABLE. Low key endless.”
Rihanna’s boyfriend, A$AP Rocky, also couldn’t have looked prouder during her performance, smiling and dancing during her set.
The rapper, 34, even rocked a custom jacket paying homage to her iconic September 2022 Super Bowl headlining announcement.
He and Rihanna have been dating since 2021. The couple share a 9-month-old son – with another baby on the way.