Rihanna has come under fire for what some are calling an ‘unholy’ photoshoot.
The cover of the most recent issue of Interview Magazine shows the singer dressed as a less-than-demure nun – causing a firestorm of comments from critics.
The 36-year-old is seen wearing a black-and-white habit with a dangerously low neckline, bright blue eye shadow, and red lipstick.
She’s poses provocatively, looking at the camera with her mouth open and a noticeable sheen of oil on her chest.
Some of the other photos in the photoshoot, by Nadia Lee Cohen, follow a similar theme, with some of the images even showing Rihanna grabbing at her chest.
She posted the photo to her Instagram account, eliciting comments that have accused her of everything from disrespect to downright religious persecution.
User @sam__naidoo, whose comment got over 10,000 likes, wrote: ‘This is just distasteful, I’m not even Christian or Catholic and I feel like it’s just disrespect and in poor taste.’
@tashmichael agreed: ‘So tired with all this unholy imagery!!!!’
User @thankyounxett wrote, in part: ‘But it’s so dehumanising and degrading to see Christianity being continuously mocked, as well as witnessing religious imagery being used for the wrong purposes. No matter what religious convictions we uphold we should respect them, regardless of where we stand. And seeing people endorse this is honestly just disrespectful.’
@Alycapobianco summed up the majority of the criticism, writing: ‘Please leave my religion alone. Could you imagine if anyone came after other religions? Enough is enough.’
Still others defended the Grammy winner’s right to play with any imagery she wants to, with user @killacroche commenting: ‘This so good!! Y’all need to get over yourselves… you’ll watch movies like Insidious with a demonic nun but say nothing and then come for Rihanna creating art. Take a seat.’
User @amenphashion agreed, writing: ‘I love when artists take religious imagery and make it high fashion.’
This isn’t the first time the Umbrella singer has caused controversy by incorporating aspects of religion into her work.
She wore a pendant of the Hindu deity Ganesha in a photo back in 2021 and was quickly accused of cultural appropriation, an incident that came just a year after she faced criticism for using Islamic text in the music for Savage x Fenty lingerie runway show.
It’s worth noting that Rihanna has long been open about her Christian faith, even referencing it several times in the new interview attached to the controversial photoshoot. She said of her journey to start a family with ASAP Rocky: ‘I let God lead and just let go.’
When asked how many kids she plans to have in the future, she responded: ‘As many as god wants me to have.’
That rock-solid faith is not a new development for the singer, as she told British GLAMOUR in 2014 that the key to staying true to herself is ‘focusing on God… remembering what’s important in life and understanding that we are individuals with our own relationship to God,’ Rihanna told the magazine. ‘When that’s clear, it’s difficult to be bothered by what people think.’
The singer has yet to comment on the controversy, and at the time of writing the Instagram post remains on her profile.
Based on the interview, it seems unlikely Rihanna will say anything publicly to her haters.
When asked if she misses being vocal online (she’s been notoriously private in recent years) she responded: ‘The troll in me, she had a time. Unfortunately, you can’t take anything back from the internet, so I will always have the reminders, but the best troll in me is the silent troll.’
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