When Rihanna Allegedly ‘Bullied’ a Teenage Fan for Copying Her Outfit

For more than a decade, Rihanna has remained a prominent figure in the public eye, carving out a distinct reputation for herself. Hailing from Barbados, she has consistently delivered a string of popular songs and has ventured into the business world with her successful beauty brand, Fenty Beauty, her lingerie collection, Savage X Fenty, and her skincare line, Fenty Skin. However, judging by her Instagram handle, ‘Bad Gal Riri,’ it’s evident that Rihanna hasn’t shied away from stirring up controversies during her tenure in the entertainment sphere.

In 2014, Rihanna became mired in a controversy when she faced accusations of bullying a 16-year-old teenager.

During the year 2014, Rihanna faced allegations of engaging in cyberbullying towards a teenage fan. This came about after she shared tweets that appeared to ridicule the girl’s self-made prom attire, per The Daily Mail. At the age of 16, Alexis Carter eagerly embraced the opportunity to emulate her idol for her high school’s Hollywood-themed prom in Baltimore. Drawing inspiration from a striking green jumpsuit crafted by Alexandre Vauthier and previously worn by Rihanna in 2010, Carter utilized her sewing skills to fashion her own rendition of the outfit. This resulted in her attending the dance with a strong sense of confidence and excitement.

“Everybody was saying, ‘Oh my god, I love it, it looks nice, your body looks good, it’s different,'” she told Fox Baltimore at the time.

However, the following day, the images she had shared, showcasing her attire, spread rapidly across the internet, but unfortunately, not for positive reasons. Under the hashtag #prombat, individuals engaged in bullying behavior began to harshly critique Carter’s dress selection. While minor acts of meanness are regrettably common in the high school environment, what transpired next was quite astonishing: Rihanna herself unexpectedly became part of the situation by contributing to the negativity. This was evident through a post she made, as reported by Elle magazine.

As if her initial taunt on Twitter wasn’t cutting enough, Rihanna proceeded to amplify the situation with a subsequent post. This time, she shared Alexis’ prom photograph side by side with an image of the Wu-Tang logo, resembling a bat, along with the caption “She gets it.” While the intention behind this second caption remains unclear, one can hardly fathom the level of embarrassment a 16-year-old must have experienced being openly ridiculed on social media by none other than her idol (or former idol).

It goes without saying that Alexis was far from being impressed. “I was very offended, Why throw shade on it when you had on the exact same thing? The poses were different but the outfit wasn’t. I was astonished that she would do something like that. She’s a grown woman and she bashed me. I thought she would praise it. For someone who claims to love her fans, this sure doesn’t show it,” Carter told Fox Baltimore.