Rihanna apologizes to Muslim community for “unintentionally offensive” use of song during fashion show

Rihanna’s fashion show for her lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty, was held last week despite the coronavirus pandemic, and the star-studded event was streamed on Amazon Prime. Some viewers honed in on one of the songs used, “Doom” by Coucou Chloe, which some deemed offensive. 

Rihanna has now apologized to the Muslim community for using the song during the show. 

Entertainment Tonight reports the 2016 song includes a narration of Hadith, sayings and actions of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, about the end of the world and the afterlife. The Hadith is a sacred text to Muslims.

After several people pointed out that the song includes a remixed reading of the sacred text, Rihanna and the artist behind the song posted apologies on social media. 

“I’d like to thank the Muslim community for pointing out a huge oversight that was unintentionally offensive in our Savage X Fenty show,” Rihanna wrote in a post shared on the Savage X Fenty Instagram page Tuesday. “I would more importantly like to apologize to you for this honest, yet careless mistake. 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,” the 32-year-old singer-turned fashion mogul wrote. “Moving forward we will make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Thank you for your forgiveness and understanding.”

A similar statement was also shared on Rihanna’s personal Instagram story, according to ET. 

On Monday, Coucou Chloe addressed her song on Twitter. “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,” she wrote in one tweet.

“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,” continued a second tweet by the British singer. “We have been in the process of having the song urgently removed from all streaming platforms.”

Ahead of the event,which was filmed in an empty amphitheater, Rihanna spoke to the Associated Press about why it was important to put on the show this year. 

“People need a little bit of hope,” she told the AP. “They need a little bit of happiness, and if we can bring a smile to their face and a little bit of fun, while they’re at home, stuck at home, it’s a desire and an honor to be a part of that.” 

She also said the brand is a space for people in her community to feel included. “We wanna include other communities as well. We wanna have that inclusivity be a part of our brand always. We wanna always push the envelope on that. We wanna expand on that and putting on a show this year was important for us,” she said.