Rihanna is facing serious backlash from fans and observers for announcing that Johnny Depp will feature in the upcoming Savage X Fenty lingerie runway show.
According to TMZ, Depp wouldn’t be on the runway, but rather he will be a “star” and feature similar to how the show used Cindy Crawford and Erykah Badu’s appearances in the past. Depp will be wearing pieces from the Fenty men’s collection line.
Within hours of the brand making the announcement, thousands of fans voiced their disapproval of Depp’s association with the brand. This would be the first time a man is included in the show, which airs on Amazon Prime on November 9th and is in its fourth production cycle.
Fans on Twitter voiced their contention and disappointment that Rihanna would use Depp in the show, particularly about his recent defamation trial brought by ex-wife Amber Heard.
While the jury had ruled in Depp’s favor that Heard defamed him in a Washington Post op-ed, Heard’s lawyers led evidence that claimed that Depp had sexually assaulted Heard and was also verbally abusive, which left fans divided on whom they supported in the trial as Johny also shared evidence of Heard being abusive.
On Thursday, many fans shared their disappointment using the hashtags #AbuserxFenty and #DitchDepp calling on Rihanna to recant the decision to include Depp in the show.
Rihanna
“We are all mortified over this decision,” one person wrote, while another added, “NO ONE was talking about this man until the trial. The ONLY reason he’s relevant is for beating women. Like where is her head?”
“I’m so confused why he’s getting praise. Rihanna, this is NOT you. I figure out of anyone, you would know what sexual assault is,” another said.
“She’s disgusting for giving an abuser a platform,” another added, echoing the sentiments of a large number of people.
Equally, many voiced support for Johnny, writing that Rihanna was doing the right thing by being supportive of a fellow victim of domestic violence as they referenced the infamous 2009 incident with Chris Brown.
“Victim helping another victim… checks out,” one man wrote.
“Why do have a problem with a victim helping another victim?” a female fan added.
“I’m so happy RiRi did this. support domestic violence victims regardless of gender,” another woman said.
“both AH & JD are not good people can y’all just leave it at that? like they both lied they both abused each other just leave it alone,” one person said, maintaining a neutral stance.
Rihanna nor Savage X Fenty has responded to the backlash. Up to Thursday night, fans continued to drag the artist and the brand as they referenced past infractions by Rihanna, who unknowingly used a religious Islamic song in one of her past Savage X Fenty shows that resulted in swift backlash.
Rihanna later apologized and removed the song, but fans are still not pleased and are sounding off on Twitter.
