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Video Editor: Deepthi Ramdas
Camera: Shiv Kumar Maurya
Before you rush to label Rihanna's message in solidarity with farmers' protest ‘a paid tweet’ because, well, what can a 'female' pop star even know about social issues, right, here are some facts for you.
The 32-year-old iconic singer and Hollywood actor doesn't shy away from speaking her mind. The tweet to her 100 million followers, which created a flutter in India, is hardly the first issue she has been vocal about!
A native of Barbados, Robyn Rihanna Fenty rose from poverty as her career began at the age of 17.
She made headlines with lead single Umbrella winning her first Grammy in 2007. A year later, she started her first charity.
Let. That. Sink. In.
An open critic of former US President Donald Trump, Rihanna attended the 2017 Women’s March and dabbed in front of Trump Tower.
Later in the year, she slammed Trump over his immigration policies
and for failing to call mass shootings “terrorism." In 2018, she sent Trump a cease-and-desist notice to stop him from playing her songs at campaign rallies.
A few months later, Rihanna re-shared a petition by the racial justice organisation Color of Change calling for the cops who allegedly shot Breonna Taylor, an African-American woman in Louisville, to be held accountable.
When the civil unrest erupted in Sudan in June 2019 following military crackdowns on pro-democracy protests, Rihanna, in solidarity with Sudanese protesters, wrote:
In late 2020 when protests calling to dissolve Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for carrying out violence against citizens without any consequences hit the streets, Rihanna tweeted a photo of a protester holding a bloody Nigerian flag.
Again, you can call her support for farmers' protests in India 'a paid tweet' or deliberately try to 'join the dots', it looks like there's no stopping 'bad gal Riri'!
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
Published: 05 Feb 2021,05:36 PM IST