Back in the day, Rihanna kept dealing with Chris Brown for a while after he brutally assaulted her. Brown was, at the time, also dating Karrueche Tran. Rihanna would make references to “the other woman” in her social media and in widely reported comments, like the time she put hoop earrings and sunglasses on a package of rice cakes, or when Rihanna’s BFF at the time confirmed the fact that Rihanna referred to Tran as “Rice Cakes.” It was many years ago and Rihanna has shown us that she’s grown as a person since then. But… she’s never really addressed any of that, and there was A LOT. And it was racist. Tran absolutely felt attacked by Rihanna and as far as we know, Rihanna just stopped at some point and now acts like she’s always stood up for marginalized Asian communities.
So… yeah. Following the racist terrorist attack on the Asian community in Georgia two weeks ago, Rihanna did a big Instagram post about her solidarity with the AAPI community. Then this past weekend, Rihanna joined her assistant Tina Truong at the Stop Asian Hate rally in NYC. Rihanna went “incognito” in that she was just wearing lowkey clothes and a mask. Truong didn’t make a big deal about Rihanna’s attendance either. It’s nice to see Rihanna’s support, both vocally and physically. I genuinely believe she’s changed and maybe even regrets her dumb racism towards Tran. But it’s still kind of weird that she’s never addressed it, and few people call her out on it! Oh well.
Rihanna joins the #StopAsianHate protest in NYC ❤️ || 🎥 teacuptina pic.twitter.com/SVqN5V27b7
— BET (@BET) April 5, 2021
.@Rihanna hilariously gives her Instagram handle to a protestor that didn’t recognize her at the #StopAsianHate march in New York City. pic.twitter.com/tSSkdQKwwx
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 5, 2021
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, IG.
She needs to publicly address her pattern of anti-Asian racism and apologize. She made those posts publicly, so she should apologize publicly. People do want to forgive her, and like you, I believe she has changed, but the people she harmed deserve an apology.
Why do you think she’s changed? Just a few weeks ago, she was posing with a Ganesha pendant in a bikini shot.
The rice cakes picture is still on her Instagram so no, there has been no growth. But it was mighty convienent that an incognito Rihanna was seen at this rally, I’m sure it wasnt planned at all!!
This is not a royals post but it has to be said.
Rihanna could go incognito. RIHANNA. But Kate couldn’t…..
That said Rihanna should address and apologize for coming at Karruche with racist attacks. That’s trashy and if she had grown she can’t just go to protests and not address her own messiness.
I love me some Riri and as much as I want to believe that she has grown and changed I would also like to hear it from her because that stuff with Tran was racist af and bad. She should address it and address some of the cultural appropriation stuff. As much as I like her I cannot justify that stuff ever.
She needs to apologize to Karruche publicly. She was dead wrong. And she needs to acknowledge that. But I do believe she’s grown. Lord knows she needed to stop dealing with Chris and his toxicity. Good on her for standing up to Asian hate. Need more people to stand up for the AAPI community. If some of these jerks got some physical blowback from the public instead of standing by as it happens, they’d be less likely to attack. JMHO.
I really hope that a lot of pop artists also take this time to consider and apologize for their histories of appropriating Asian culture for the aesthetics (see also Katy Perry and Gwen Stefani which are the first two that pop into my head).
People have been yelling about music videos that appropriate Asian culture for years but the pop stars have largely gotten away with it with relatively little blow-back and sometimes even repeat the same thing again later (I know Gwen Stefani has done that).
Rihanna will always be racist toward Asians. She can’t stop appropriating from Asian cultures, be it “princess of China,” using Muslim prayers in her fashion shows, or wearing a necklace of Ganesh as an accessory for her naked photoshoots. The last of which was only two months ago.
She should just sit down.
I want to like her but I can’t forget when she dragged and mocked a teenage girl (probably a fan of hers) who made her own prom outfit after one of Rihanna’s looks. It was peak mean girl and brutal, and we’re talking about a child.
Yeah and she’s also been pretty racist.
Can we stop the bull narrative that she has grown? She still has the picture on her Instagram so that proves to me this was just publicity stunt to garner favor otherwise she have taken down the offensive picture. And to all the “I love Rihanna” people out there, I have to ask, so you continue to love someone who has been racist and continues to do so? I cant imagine you would feel that way if Taylor Swift or Bebe Rexa had made racist comments about black women.
I still don’t really care about the things she’s worn in and of themselves (Others can disagree with that. I just don’t think it harms us- especially when it’s other poc-as long as people don’t claim things as their own). It’s the disrespect- the things she said about Karreuche Tran and not addressing it that makes her borrowing from Asian cultures problematic. She likely has grown since then, and personal growth isn’t always loud. But it would be really nice if she apologized for that at a time like this. At the same time, we can acknowledge her problematic past without being ok with, or accepting it as an excuse for, misogyny directed at her.
Who here is directing misogyny at her? It IS harmful to see a sacred symbol of one of the key figures of your religion used to “ethnicify” a Western celebrity’s thirst trap, just as it was for her to use slurs against Tran. She needs to develop some cultural humility (she won’t) and she doesn’t need anyone caping for her at this moment.
I agree that RiRi needs to apologize in general terms for her past history of racist comments, but I’m not sure I agree that she needs to specifically apologize to K. Tran. We don’t know the full extent of that whole toxic situation in which she was involved, and I wouldn’t want to push a domestic abuse survivor to do something that may trigger her. She is trying to make amends, at least as far as the Asian community is concerned.
Gwen Stefani also needs to take ownership of her past. She used 4 Asian woman as silent props for years.