Rihanna Strikes Back at Reporter for Calling Her a ‘Poisonous Pop Princess’

By Laura Ferreiro

There's no denying that Rihanna has received her fair share of bad press over the years, but it's unusual for the pop star to write her own tirade in retaliation.

On Monday, writer Liz Jones posted an unflattering piece that appeared in British tabloid Daily Mail that really got Rihanna's blood boiling. The star quickly took to social media to vent her frustrations.

In the article, Jones takes Rihanna to task for flaunting her money and romanticizing guns and drug culture, and for setting a bad example for young girls by getting back together with her abusive ex-boyfriend Chris Brown after he beat her.

Jones criticized RiRi's skimpy outfits and the drugs- and bling-related selfies she frequently posts, and concluded: "All these qualities pale to nothing when we know she went back to her abusive boyfriend, Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to assaulting her in 2009; that she promotes drug-taking, drinking and the sort of fashion sense on stage that surely invites rape at worst, disrespect at least."

Not one to take things lying down, Rihanna piped up with her own scathing response, and lashed out at the writer on Instagram and Twitter, posting an unflattering photo of Jones and calling her article a "sad, sloppy, menopausal mess." She also corrected a fact about her Vogue cover that Jones apparently got wrong.

Rihanna wrote: "LOL!!!! My money got a bad habit of pissing people off!! If you sincerely wanna help little girls more than their own parents do, here's a toxic tip: don't be amateur with your articles, you sound bitter! What's all this about hair and nails and costumes and tattoos?? ....That s--t ain't clever!!! That s--t ain't journalism! That's a sad sloppy menopausal mess!!! Nobody over here acts like they're perfect! I don't pretend that I'm like you, i just live... My life!! And I don't know why y'all still act so surprised by any of it!! 'Role Model' is not a position or title that I have ever campaigned for, so chill wit dat! I got my own f--ked up s--t to work on, I'll never portray that as perfect, but for right now it's ME!! Call it what ya want!! Toxic was cute, Poisonous Pop Princess had a nice ring to it, just a lil wordy! And P.S. my first American Vogue cover was in 2011...APRIL!!! #ElizabethAnnJones"

Truth is, Rihanna's response just adds fuel to the fire, but her fans didn't seem to mind, posting encouraging messages that praise her for being real and not caring about what people think.