Rihanna apologizes to Muslim community for using song with Islamic scripture in fashion show
Rihanna is issuing an apology for an offensive song selection in her 2020 Savage X Fenty Vol. 2 Show.
While the designer and singer was praised for the inclusivity of her fashion show, which streamed on Prime Video on Friday, she’s since faced backlash for having the lingerie models strut to the song “Doom” by London-based producer Coucou Chloe. The song, which is on the show’s official soundtrack, includes sacred Islamic verses — specifically a remix of a Hadith narration from the Prophet Muhammad about the end of times and judgment day — leading Rihanna’s Muslim fans to call her over it.
In an apology on Tuesday, Rihanna took responsibility for the “huge oversight” and vowed that it won’t happen again.
“I'd like to thank the Muslim community for pointing out a huge oversight that was unintentionally offensive in our savage x fenty show," Rihanna wrote on social media Tuesday. “I would more importantly like to apologize to you for this honest, yet careless mistake. We understand that we have hurt many of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and I'm incredibly disheartened by this!”
She went on to say, “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. Moving forward we will make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Thank you for your forgiveness and understanding.”
Chloe previously apologized. She wrote on social media that “the song was created using samples from Baile Funk tracks I found online. At the time, I was not aware that these samples used text from an Islamic Hadith. I take full responsibility for the fact that I did not research these words properly and want to thank those of you who have taken the time to explain this to me. We have been in the process of having the song urgently removed from all streaming platforms.”
A post shared by COUCOU CHLOE (@coucouchloe) on Oct 5, 2020 at 9:17am PDT
There was a lot of online criticism of the song being used. According to CNN, the Hadith is extremely sacred to Muslims and comes second only to the Quran in terms of textual authority.
there’s really no way we can let this slide like a straight up HADITH???? rihanna baby you screwed up HARD pic.twitter.com/gxUOvtHGn5
— N???? ?’s yami / exams (@TAEHYUNGGOODBOI) October 4, 2020
Rihanna is messed up for using a song with a Hadith in it to play at her LINGERIE show. What is up with artists using Islam as an aesthetic?? Have some respect.
— n (@nelirv_) October 4, 2020
i can’t let Rihanna have a pass w appropriating Islam like for her first show the models wore a scarf around their heads and it looked like HIJAB and her second show she used a track that remixed a HADITH....why is no one talking about this, my religion is not y’all’s aesthetic
— . (@reversecocunut) October 4, 2020
Rihanna, previously used the “Doom” track for her Fenty X Puma show in 2017.
the fact that it’s rihanna’s SECOND time using the hadith is even worse. pic.twitter.com/IiZrHhNU8r
— sheza (@kkeyis) October 4, 2020
This comes after Rihanna won massive praise for her show and its inclusivity and diversity of models. The fashion show also featured appearances from many celebs including Lizzo, Travis Scott, Demi Moore, Cara Delevingne, Bella Hadid, Paris Hilton, Normani, Willow Smith, Bad Bunny and more.
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