Howard Stern pulled no punches reacting to Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime performance, telling radio show listeners that he doesn’t know why she even “bothered showing up” considering she seemed to be lip-synching “85 percent” of the time.
During Monday’s episode of “The Howard Stern Show,” the shock jock was asked for his thoughts on Rihanna’s halftime show and whether he agreed with critics online who claimed Rihanna was lip-synching the majority of Sunday night’s show.
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“Of course, she was,” Stern said. “You know, I don’t even know why she bothered showing up. I gotta tell you. I love Rihanna’s voice. I think it’s a wonderful voice,” he continued.
Rihanna, who was dressed in all red for her first live performance in seven years, stunned fans when it was revealed she is pregnant with her second child. (Getty Images)
“And I love how she interprets a song and every song they played there behind her was terrific. There was one point where she was singing toward the end of the performance when she actually was on the stage with the band — she was singing whatever song that was,” Stern continued. “But I would say now, again, I could be wrong, but I — in my opinion, 85 percent of that performance was lip synch.”
Stern said the “big giveaway” was when the nine-time Grammy Award-winning artist put the microphone “down by her knees and her lips aren’t moving and the other voices are going.”
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The “Umbrella” singer, 34, who spent the majority of the performance levitating above the Super Bowl stage on a suspended platform, took the stage at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona on Sunday dressed head-to-toe in a bright red ensemble, which revealed a baby bump – making her the first pregnant woman to star in the halftime show.
Rihanna on suspended platform during her halftime performance in Phoenix.(Getty Images)
A representative for the musician confirmed the pregnancy news after speculation lit up the internet during the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Stern said he had a “theory” about why she repeatedly moved the microphone away from her mouth.
“I had a theory, Rihanna was not lip-syncing, but she put the microphone near her vagina so the new baby could sing,” he said, adding “The baby was singing backup.”
