Donald Trump called Rihanna's 15-minute half-time performance an 'epic fail' and the 'worst halftime show' in the sporting event’s history. Photos: USA Today and AP
Rihanna’s Super Bowl comeback drew mixed reactions from viewers on Sunday but it was the attack of former US President Donald Trump – who called her 15-minute half-time performance an “epic fail” and the “worst halftime show” in the sporting event’s history – that was most attention-catching.
On his own social media platform Truth Social, Trump also had a bone to pick with the Barbados-born singer’s all-red ensemble, consisting of a figure-hugging bustier that showed her protruding belly and an oversized boiler suit. Rihanna’s agent later on confirmed what everyone had been speculating on at the start of the show – that she is pregnant with Baby No. 2.
But the self-styled politician won’t have any of that.
“EPIC FAIL: Rihanna gave, without question, the single worst halftime show in Super Bowl history. This after insulting far more than half of our nation, which is already in serious DECLINE, with her foul and insulting language. Also so much for her ‘stylist!'” Trump told his nearly five million followers.
In August 2020, US media reported that Trump attacked Rihanna on the same platform by sharing the post of Texas congressman Ronny Jackson, who said the Grammy-winning singer shouldn’t be allowed by the National Football League to perform at the Super Bowl because she was “spewing degenerate filth”.
Trump agreed, writing that “Without her ‘stylist’ she’d be NOTHING. Bad everything, and NO TALENT!”
While the multibillionaire musician and business entrepreneur did not then respond to Trump or Jackson, she was known to be a critic of the former President, who she had once called “the most mentally ill human being in America” in an interview with Vogue magazine. On her social media accounts, she also hit Trump for his policies on gun control and immigration.
Rihanna also famously posed for photos in front of a spray-painted art installation that read “Fuck Trump” then posted the same on social media.
Her long-awaited half-time performance on the Super Bowl stage showed a medley of her musical hits compressed in under 15 minutes, though her growing baby bump hogged the headlines.
In May 2021, she gave birth to a son by rapper A$AP Rocky, who was seen in the sidelines of the sporting event. – Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network
