20 February 2024 , 19:10
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Rihanna first burst onto the music scene back in 2005, signing a mega record deal with Jay-Z and releasing her smash hit Pon De Replay.
Her career has spanned almost two decades, and she drove fans wild as her longtime partner A$AP Rocky recently confirmed a long-awaited new album would be released this year. Despite her huge fame, and her massive success as a fashion designer and make-up mogul, Rihanna has had her fair share of controversies over the years.
The Barbados-born singer was once banned from Instagram for posting nude photos, after she shared snaps from a racy shoot. The picture-sharing app took down her account when she uploaded the topless snaps, but she was later reinstated after she promised to take the offending pictures down.
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Rihanna has had a hugely successful career over the last 19 years (AFP via Getty Images)Back in 2011, she had a run-in with fellow pop star Ciara, and the women got into a bitter spat on social media. While on E!’s Fashion Police show, the Goodies hitmaker claimed she’d met Rihanna at a party, and “she wasn’t the nicest”. Ciara added: “It’s crazy because I’ve always loved and respected what she’s done with fashion. I’ve run into her before, but this time it wasn’t the most pleasant run-in.”
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Taking to Twitter, Rihanna fired: “My bad ci, did I 4get to tip you? #howrudeofme,” prompting Ciara to reply: “Trust me Rhianna u don't want to see me on or off the stage.” Not backing down, the Umbrella hitmaker tweeted: “U gangsta huh? Haaa. Good luck with bookin that stage u speak of.”
RIhanna was once banned from Instagram over nude pictures (AFP/Getty Images)In 2013, Rihanna was kicked out of a mosque in Abu Dhabi for “indecency” after taking pictures of herself during an impromptu photoshoot at the sacred religious site. She shared snaps of herself wearing a black jumpsuit and hijab at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, but was asked to leave the premises by authorities. “She was asked to leave before entering the mosque after she posed in ways that do not match the sacred status" of the complex,” officials remarked at the time.
She also landed herself in hot water with the Muslim community after including a song in her Savage x Fenty fashion show that sampled a sacred Islamic text. After facing a huge backlash, she took to social media to issue an apology, and the song was later removed from all streaming platforms. Apologising for her “honest yet careless mistake”, she thanked people for pointing out a “huge oversight which was unintentionally offensive.” Rihanna added in the post on her Instagram Story: “I do not play with any kind of disrespect toward God or any religion and therefore the use of the song in our project was completely irresponsible.”
The singer came under fire for casting Johnny Depp in her fashion show (AFP via Getty Images)Her Savage x Fenty fashion show caused trouble for the singer again in 2022, when she cast Johnny Depp as the first male to appear in her now-iconic lingerie presentation. His cameo followed the controversial defamation trial between him and ex-wife Amber Heard, and Rihanna was heavily criticised for featuring him in the show, especially after her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown was charged with assaulting her in 2009.