Rihanna has responded to Snapchat’s recent poll which asked users if they would ‘rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown.’
The ad was slammed for appearing to joke about Brown’s conviction for assaulting Rihanna in 2009 while the two were dating.
The company have since said it ‘never should have appeared on our service.’
The Bajan singer replied to the controversial post in an Instagram story.
Is it just me, or is this ad that popped up on my Snapchat extremely tone deaf? Like what were they thinking with this? pic.twitter.com/7kP9RHcgNG
— Royce Mann (@TheRoyceMann) March 12, 2018
badgirlriri/InstagramShe wrote:
I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb.
This isn’t about my personal feelings, cause I don’t have much of them… but all the women, children and men that have been victims of DV in the past and especially the ones who haven’t made it out yet.
You let us down! Shame on you. Throw the whole app-ology away.
A Snap Inc spokesperson said:
This advertisement is disgusting and never should have appeared on our service. We are so sorry we made the terrible mistake of allowing it through our review process.
We are investigating how that happened so that we can make sure it never happens again.
Snapchat’s share price has fallen by more than 4% since Rihanna made her statement.
Getty UKSnapchat’s advertising policy states that all adverts are ‘subject to our review and approval’ and they reserve the right to reject or remove any ad.
Earlier this year, a reported $1.3 billion was wiped off the value of Snap, partially to do with Kylie being ‘soo over’ it, their advert-centric update, and now this.
According to CNBC, $600 million was wiped from the social media platform’s value as a result of this monumental PR failure.
Snap’s advertising policy is outlined on its website, confirming:
All ads are subject to our review and approval. We reserve the right to reject or remove any ad in our sole discretion for any reason.
We also reserve the right to request modifications to any ad, and to require factual substantiation for any claim made in an ad.
There is also a list of vetoed content which includes ‘shocking, sensational, or disrespectful content.’