Rihanna has apologized for a song used during her Savage X Fenty: Volume 2 show which aired on Amazon Prime on Friday.
London news outlet Middle East Eye reports Muslim fans on social media were quick to express their outrage at the use of a song called “Doom” by London-based producer Coucou Chloe, who also issued an apology. The song features a heavily distorted recitation of a hadith, or a sacred text, by Kuwaiti preacher Mishary bin Rashid Alafasy.
The Grammy-winning businesswoman sent a private message to a fan and released a longer public apology on her Instagram page, thanking the Muslim community for pointing out that it was disrespectful to use the song during a lingerie show.
Rihanna addresses criticisms of her #SavageXFenty show among the Muslim community after models danced to sacred Islamic verses:
“I’d like to thank the Muslim community for pointing out a huge oversight – moving forward we will make sure nothing like this ever happens again.” pic.twitter.com/XqPqHirZ8q
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 6, 2020
"Thank you for reaching out man! It's been brought to our attention and we're taking it out! I obviously had no clue! I just hope people don't think I did this on purpose or to be offensive or anything like that! Cause you. know I would NEVER!! So I'm editing it out, but of course you can't take it back ya know?!" she wrote to a fan in an Instagram message.
"I just feel bad that I hurt people, even though that was never my intention, the Muslim community is hurt by me right now, so that's the sad part," she added.
In the public message, she apologized further for the song and pledged to remove it from the show.
Rihanna’s official apology❤️ pic.twitter.com/hLewabTuOh
— Rihanna ???? (@fentxyy) October 6, 2020
"I'd like to thank the Muslim community for pointing out a huge oversight that was unintentionally offensive in our savage x fenty show. I would more importantly like to apologize to you for this honest, yet careless mistake," she wrote.
"We understand that we have hurt many of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and I'm incredibly disheartened by this! 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, Rih," the pop star added.
The controversy started when one fan watching the show managed to hear the prayer recitation in the song, even though it is heavily distorted.
rihanna is responsible for this even if she didn’t choose the music. she hired her team and she must’ve heard the songs beforehand and just because she’s rihanna doesn’t give her a free pass to disrespect a religion pic.twitter.com/V2oZErQhOg
— Maria (@selenarules6) October 4, 2020
Outrage over the use of the song began to grow over the weekend.
as a muslim, no words can describe how disappointed i am with Rihanna for letting her models dance to hadith. Hadith are the sacred words of our prophet, you can't just use it for your lingerie show. disgusting and extremely disrespectful
— dee⁷ (@kookdice) October 4, 2020
y’all don’t realize how disrespectful it was what Rihanna did. she didn’t use music thats in Arabic or anything. she used a hadith, hadith and arabic songs are two different things, and she used the words of our prophet,that are meant to guide muslims, for her lingerie show…
— ęᴴ????(fan account) (@fIrareoutsold) October 4, 2020
The song's creator has also come forward to apologize for using the prayer.
I want to deeply apologize for the offence caused by the vocal samples used in my song ‘DOOM'. 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. 1/2
— COUCOU CHLOE (@coucou_chloe) October 5, 2020
"I take full responsibility for the fact 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," she added.
In an official statement to Complex, a Savage X Fenty spokesperson said they should not have used the song.
"We truly apologize for the song that appeared in the Savage x Fenty show. We shouldn’t have used it. The song’s vocal tracks are being replaced and the show is being edited.We have nothing but the utmost respect and love for the Muslim community," the statement said.
"All Fenty brands have been founded on the notion of inclusivity and respect to all, and this was an unfortunate mistake on our part. We will be vigilant going forward to ensure this is never repeated," the statement added.
The Muslim community has had to criticize singers and fashion designers for using Islamic aesthetics and songs in contexts outside of mosques or prayer in the pasat. TIME magazine noted that both Lady Gaga and French fashion designer Marine Serre have faced controversies in recent years over their use of hijabs and burqas.
