Rihanna Receives Backlash Over Savage X Fenty Fashion Show

Rihanna has been receiving backlash from the Muslim community from her 2020 Savage X Fenty fashion show after the usage of an inappropriate song. The fashion show live streamed on Amazon Prime on October 2nd. During the show, “DOOM”, a song that was released back in 2017, had played. The song features a sacred hadith, which is a collection of traditions containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad which, with accounts of his daily practice (the Sunna), constitute the major source of guidance for Muslims apart from the Koran. To the Muslim viewers, having women prance around in lingerie to a song such as that came off as a blatant disrespect to their culture and views, and thus left many to feel offended.

An Apology

Rihanna issued an apology on her Instagram story on October 6th, promising that this would never happen again and stating how she did not mean to offend anyone by any means.

“I do not play with any kind of disrespect toward God or religion and therefore the use of the song in our project was completely irresponsible. Moving forward we will make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Thank you for your forgiveness and understand, Rih.”

The song was produced by Coucou Chloe. The British producer also took to social media to issue an apology for the vocal samples used, stating that she was unaware as well and will take responsibility for not doing the proper research before using said samples.

https://twitter.com/coucou_chloe/status/1313137644226908162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1313137644226908162%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fhiphopdx.com%2Fnews%2Fid.58287%2Ftitle.rihanna-apologizes-to-the-muslim-community-for-song-played-at-her-savage-x-fenty-show

What’s Next For Fenty?

Some are still conflicted with their feelings towards Rihanna and her brand moving forward. Hodhen Liaden is a beauty blogger and an actual RiRi stan. She interviewed with Radio 1 Newsbeat and mentioned how although it is “refreshing” to see Rihanna apologize, it was a huge misstep to include the song into the show nonetheless, and that “more Muslim people are needed in these industries” so that they can pick up on these oversights. Liaden even states that she may not continue to support the Fenty brand in the future. 

Rihanna spoke to the Associated Press about why it was important to put on the show this year, though we have had quite the year.

“People need a little bit of hope, they need a little bit of happiness, and if we can bring a smile to their face and a little bit of fun, while they’re at home, stuck at home, it’s a desire and an honor to be a part of that.”

She also emphasized how the Savage X Fenty brand is all about diversity and inclusion. “We wanna include other communities as well. We wanna have that inclusivity be a part of our brand always. We wanna always push the envelope on that. We wanna expand on that and putting on a show this year was important for us,” she said. She hopes to put on more shows and to continue to press the envelope of fashion with her brand as well.