For the first time in almost eight years, Rihanna hit the concert stage. Fenty‘s billionaire founder performed for Mukesh Ambani as a part of his wedding festivities in India. Ambani is reportedly worth about $112 billion and reportedly paid Rihanna $6 million for the gig.
Rihanna’s actual presence in the country received no complaints.
The 36-year-old was praised for her thoughtful nature as she took pictures with multiple fans throughout the trip.
Observe the body language of Rihanna around fans.
Why don’t we usually see Indian celebrities behave this way with fans?
I think the answer starts with C. pic.twitter.com/NfsccBvrnk
— Siddharth (@DearthOfSid) March 2, 2024
rihanna is hugging and mingling with common people but so called ground to earth ambanis refuse to even shake hands with average indian in their PR exercise.
Money & PR can’t change this casteist and elitist mindset. pic.twitter.com/Hfs136S04r
— ح (@hmmbly) March 2, 2024
Rihanna was having the time of her life in India 😭 pic.twitter.com/Jeft3WG1sK
— ᴹᴵᴹᴵ’ˢ ☈ᴱᴵᴳᴺ ᵂᴼᴺᵀ ᴸᴱ☥ ᵁᴾ (@TheMimiReign) March 2, 2024
“I’ll be back,” Rihanna told the paparazzi. “I love India. The show was the best. I haven’t done a real show in eight years.”
One member of the paparazzi responded.
“Yes, yes,” the photographer said. “We saw the video.”
Beyond the general excitement of Rihanna doing something music-related again, many fans shaded the actual performance. One fan went on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption “…” posting a video of a Rihanna dance break during “Pour It Up.”
— ًprin (@sixinchbeys) March 1, 2024
The singer performed barefoot to honor Indian culture. In a crowd of approximately 1,200 guests, she only had one reported wardrobe change adding a pink hat at the end of her 40-minute performance.
A Beyoncé fan also sarcastically said Rihanna’s performance deserved 10s while posting another clip of her choreography with audio of calling Beyoncé the iconic “muva” of the Renaissance over it.
out of everything yesterday imma have to give rihanna her 10s she chewed this pic.twitter.com/ebXY0LIGvY
— tyler carey 𓄋 (@mimiscataIog) March 2, 2024
One Rihanna fan came to her defense and pointed out the fact she hasn’t been on a stage for an extended period of time.
let’s stop discrediting black women like rihanna bc music isn’t their priority. she popped out 2 kids back to back and hasn’t performed a show non pregnant in 8 years.. she had fun with her lil show! but to say she’s neva been a performer is a stretch! pic.twitter.com/MOF5ST0uyp
— kayce (@billiesliar) March 2, 2024
Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky recently starred in a promo for Fenty.
Rihanna & A$AP Rocky new short film😮💨 pic.twitter.com/OOlW1sqgIm
— garçon (@boymolish) February 28, 2024
After having two children, one fan even speculated Rihanna is pregnant again because she was holding a photo in front of her stomach.
the picture placement is… Congratulations, Rihanna and Rocky. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/Qwi0GW4Wnc
— Sassington, M.C. (@MissSassbox) March 2, 2024