We have just got wind that Pop Princess Rihanna has been used, and this time not by a light skinned industry figure! It appears The UK Clothing Retailer TopShop has been using the Bajan Beauty’s face without her approval, and making a whole lot of money from it as well. Well I hope they made over 5 million dollars because that is what Fenty is suing for.
An insider states that negotiations between Rih and TopShop started out amicable…but that went out the window after they offered the recording breaking singer a measly 5k. Even after Rih’s camp turned down the insulting offer, the corporation still proceeded to use her image anyway. Wrong decision! This is what sources told Page Six
“Rihanna’s management asked Topshop a number of times to stop selling her image and were told, ‘We do what we want.’ They buy the pictures from a photographer, but they do not pay the artist licensing fees. Unfortunately, UK law does not protect the artist. What is most offensive for Rihanna is that they basically told her, ‘Go to hell. We don’t care; we are going to continue selling you.’
The US side of TopShop appears to be much smarter! We won’t be seeing the item in our stores anytime soon. The source added “Topshop is now in the United States. They set up in Manhattan and Nordstrom, but they know better than to do this in the US because they would get in trouble.”
It’s crazy to see what corporate businesses do to try and get ahead of the competition. TopShop in our opinion is a great store and really didn’t need to use Rihanna’s face for more sales. Due to their greed the ‘Stay” Songstress has every right to sue them, and I hope she wins.