Rihanna's Argument Against Domestic Violence

On Thursday, March 15, 2018, a well-known celebrity, Rihanna responded to an advertisement on Snapchat that alluded to her domestic violence situation with R&B singer Chris Brown. According to People Music, “In 2009, Rihanna’s then-boyfriend Brown physically assaulted her in his car ahead of a Grammys party. Brown, now 28, was charged with two felony counts — assault and making criminal threats — and the exes reached a plea agreement that spared Brown jail time after he pleaded guilty to felony assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury (Petit, 2018).” The situation caught loads of media attention. Rihanna was featured on a variety of news networks, such as Good Morning America, ABC News, and 20/20 to name a few. She was speaking out on the issue and advocating against domestic violence.

Although the ad was not directly made by Snapchat, it still had to undergo an approval process. The ad displayed two pictures of Rihanna and her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. It asked, “Would you rather smack Rihanna or punch Chris Brown?” The advertisement broke the policies stating it would not allow “content depicting excessive violence, including the harming of animals” and “shocking, sensational, or disrespectful content.” Therefore, when she saw the advertisement she went on a rant on her Instagram story stating, "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! I'd love to call it ignorance but I know you ain't that dumb. You spent money to animate something that would intentionally bring shame to DV victims and made a joke of it. Shame on you. Throw the whole app-oligy away (Liao, 2018).” The story received media attention from Vanity Fair, People, CNN and many more platforms that spread awareness of the