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Snapchat has lost nearly US$800 million from its stock market value after Rihanna posted about the social media app.
A recent advertisement by the social media giant that made light of domestic violence using images of exes Rihanna and Chris Brown has come under fire. The controversial ad asked users whether they’d rather “slap Rihanna” or “punch Chris Brown.
Rihanna released a statement of her own, saying “Now SNAPCHAT I know you already know you ain’t my fav app out there! But I’m just trying to figure out what the point was with this mess!” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb!”
The Grammy winner continued, “You spent money to animate something that would intentionally bring shame to DV [domestic violence] victims and made a joke of it!!! This isn’t about my personal feelings, cause I don’t have much of them … but all the women, children and men that have been victims of DV in the past and especially the ones who haven’t made it out yet …. you let us down! Shame on you. Throw the whole app-oligy away.”
A spokesperson for Snapchat apologised in a statement to Us Weekly, saying, “The advert was reviewed and approved in error, as it violates our advertising guidelines. We immediately removed the ad last weekend, once we became aware. We are sorry that this happened.”
