Rihanna ruffled some religious feathers while dressed as a sexy nun on the cover of Interview Magazine’s latest issue.
In response to a photo shoot of the 36-year-old singer wearing a black and white habit, the traditional garment worn by members of religious orders, numerous fans and critics flocked to her comment section to denounce the look.
After viewing the provocative image of her, in which she sported a small cross tattoo drawn on her face and an unbuttoned Dior blouse that exposed her cleavage, many social media users accused the superstar of disrespecting Christians and Catholics.
A third commented: ‘I love Rihanna but I never understand why the obsession with sexualizing religious representations.’
‘Isn’t this blasphemy??’ another asked.
Others explained that they felt it is ‘dehumanizing and degrading to see Christianity being continuously mocked’ and ‘religious imagery being used for the wrong purposes.’
Ultimately, many of her followers questioned ‘out of all the fashion in the world’ why did the Fenty Beauty founder ‘chose to mock a religion.’
A small handful, however, jumped to her defense as they inquired whether the trolls made the same comments ‘under every single person that has been a slutty nun for Halloween.’
Back in 2021, she was accused of ‘cultural appropriation’ by fans for wearing a religious pendant of Hindu god Ganesha in a topless photo.
And, just a year prior, she landed in hot water for using a song featuring sacred Islamic texts as a soundtrack to her racy Savage x Fenty lingerie show.
The mother-of-two, who has identified as Christian over the years, previously told Glamour U.K that the key to staying true to herself has been leaning on God
When asked about how she stays fearless and navigates fame, she credited her ‘relationship to God’ and ‘remembering what’s important in life’ for keeping her grounded and unbothered by ‘what other people think.’
In a prior 2019 chat with Interview, in which she was interviewed by her Ocean’s 8 co-star Sarah Paulson, the Umbrella hitmaker reflected on her faith.
‘My first time praying and fasting was when I was 7 years old. I did that on my own, because I wanted to go to New York, and I knew that this was a sacrifice I had to make in order for god to make sure I could get there,’ she said.
As for whether she has ever felt abandoned by God or questioned her religion, the nine-time Grammy winner said: ‘Not my faith, but I have been in a place where I felt like maybe I had disappointed god so much that we weren’t as close.’
‘That happened to me while I was making Anti. That was a really hard time, but, thank God, I got through it,’ she confessed.
After Paulson pressed if that feeling made her faith unwavering, Rihanna clarified that her faith ‘wasn’t even lost then.’
‘The devil just has a way of making you feel like you’re not good enough, and that you’re not worthy of god being close to you. It’s really not the truth, but you wind up feeling like that,’ she explained. ‘My grandmother was the one who started me on this. She gave me a devotion book, a physical one. It was the last thing she gave me before she passed away.’
