Rihanna apologised after receiving backlash for using a song that included an Islamic hadith in her Savage X Fenty show

Celia Fernandez
Kevin/MazurRihanna apologised on Tuesday following her Savage x Fenty show, which played a song that included a vocal sample of an Islamic hadith.
  • Rihanna apologised on Tuesday for using a song, “Doom” by Coucou Chloe, that included vocal samples of an Islamic hadith in her Savage X Fenty fashion show, which aired Friday on Amazon Prime.
  • A hadith is a record of sacred Islam traditions and sayings from the prophet Muhammad.
  • Following the fashion show’s airing, fans and members of the Muslim community called out Rihanna for using a song that contained samples of the hadith.
  • On Monday, the musical artist Coucou Chloe apologised for including a hadith in “Doom” and said that the song will be “urgently removed from all streaming platforms.”
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Rihanna apologised on Tuesday for using a song in her Savage X Fenty fashion show that included vocal samples of a hadith, a collection of traditions and sayings from the prophet Muhammad.

The 32-year-old Fenty founder was faced with backlash following her recent Savage X Fenty show, which aired Friday on Amazon Prime. During the runway show, models wearing the brand’s lingerie appeared to dance to the 2016 song “Doom” by Coucou Chloe, which included samples of an Islamic hadith.

On Tuesday, Rihanna shared an apology on her Instagram story, writing that the choice of song was an “honest, yet careless mistake.”

“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. “I would more importantly like to apologise 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!”

Rihanna continued, saying: “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! Moving forward we will make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Thank you for your forgiveness and understanding, Rih.”

Celia Fernandez/InsiderRihanna shared an apology on her Instagram story on Tuesday.

Coucou Chloe also took to social media to apologise for including samples of an Islamic hadith in her song. The singer added that the song is in the process of being “urgently removed from all streaming platforms.”

“I want to deeply apologise 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,” the musician wrote Monday on Twitter.

“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,” Coucou Chloe tweeted.

Following the Savage X Fenty show’s airing, viewers expressed their opinions about Rihanna’s choice of the Coucou Chloe song “Doom.”

“What is up with artists using Islam as an aesthetic?? Have some respect,” one Twitter user wrote.

Another user wrote that Rihanna’s choice of song in the fashion show “completely alienated the Muslim community.”

Representatives for Rihanna and Coucou Chloe, respectively, did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Business Insider Emails & Alerts

Site highlights each day to your inbox.

Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.