Rihanna Under Fire for $6M Gig at $125M Indian Billionaire’s Pre-Wedding Bash as Quarter of Country in Poverty

TOPSHOT - Barbadian singer-songwriter, actress Rihanna performs "Lift Me Up" fro
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Alana Mastrangelo

Pop star Rihanna is facing backlash for her “lazy” performance at Indian billionaire Anant Ambani’s star-studded $125 million pre-wedding bash. Meanwhile, a quarter of India is stuck in poverty.

Rihanna, who was paid $6 million to come out of semi-retirement and put on her first full live concert in eight years at Ambani’s pre-wedding party, is being called out for doing the “bare minimum” during her performance, while other fans claim she has always put on low-energy shows.

Video footage of Rihanna’s performance in Jamnagar, India, at the pre-wedding party for Anant Ambani — the son of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani — and his fiancé, Radhika Merchant, surfaced on social media.

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“I adore Rihanna, but sloppiness was the main issue with the performance in India. That’s just a lack of rehearsal. Baby girl’s heart wasn’t in it, and that’s fine. Pisces queens don’t go full out for stuff they don’t care about,” one X/Twitter user commented.

Another simply stated, “She’s a scammer,” while a third wrote that this is what “doing the bare minimum at work” looks like.

“Like did she even want to be there,” another X/Twitter user asked.

“It would be better if she didn’t try to dance actually,” another suggested.

“She just don’t give a fuck,” another said, sharing a video clip of Rihanna’s performance.

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“Bro what is she doing,” another inquired, to which one X/Twitter user replied, “What she always does…”

A slew of other fans claimed that the “Umbrella” singer has always put on low-energy performances. Some even praised her for doing the “bare minimum,” calling Rihanna a “queen” for being able to pull off getting paid so much money for such “lazy” work.

“She always performed like this live lol,” one X/Twitter user said.

“Rihanna has always performed like this,” another echoed. “Not at the start of her career but quickly after. She performed in front of all their biggest stars & is giving low energy & singing here & there.”

“This is how she always preform yall new here ?” another asked.

“The bare minimum, and I dont blame her, lol…” another said.

“Rihanna has always been a queen of bare minimum if we wanna be honest. Love her still,” another proclaimed.

“Rihanna said bare minimum and I love that for her!!” another echoed.

“I love Rihanna bare minimum and all,” another X/Twitter user said in response to someone who simply wrote, “….”

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“Rihanna went over there and did the bare minimum and still got paid [$6] mil, I love that for my girl,” another declared.
“Rihanna got paid [$6] mil to do the bare minimum,” another laughed. “It’s so on brand for her.”

Others speculated that the singer is pregnant again.

“Ppl need to stop booking this woman to perform while pregnant. Like book someone who will actually give you a performance,” one said.

“For a few mil and pregnant, I think she did an amazing job,” another commented.

“She’s pregnant and haven’t been performing,” another pointed out. “Not saying she couldn’t possibly still deliver a high performance show, but knowing that I personally wouldn’t expect more.”

Other fans speculated that Rihanna may have also agreed to perform at the pre-wedding bash in an effort to get her cosmetic brand, Fenty Beauty, on store shelves in India.

“Fenty Beauty is not available in India yet, but the Ambani’s are about to acquire the rights for Sephora India. My girl Rihanna is not performing at their wedding for leisure, she’s going there for business. She’s always working,” one X/Twitter user surmised.

While Rihanna performs at Ambani and Merchant’s pre-wedding bash in India and fans debate over the singer’s low-energy show, 10 percent of the country’s population — more than 140 million people — are living in poverty, on $2 per day.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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