What Would Pop Star Rihanna Even Know About Farm Protests?

You can call her support for farmers’ protests in India ‘a paid tweet’ but there’s no stopping ‘bad gal Riri.’

(Photo: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

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.

Today, Rihanna is the wealthiest female musician in the world with a net worth of more than $600 million.

Let. That. Sink. In.

Trump Critic

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.

BLM Supporter

Rihanna was one of the first celebrities to throw in her support for the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 which erupted in the US following the murder of George Floyd, sharing a photo of Floyd in May 2020

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.

Activism Beyond America

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'!