Do you think you and Rihanna would get along? It’s hard to say, especially given her history of feuds.
Teyana Taylor first met Rihanna during her “bad girl” phase. What did Teyana do to completely turn Rihanna off?
Rihanna and Teyana were introduced through Rihanna’s ex, Chris Brown. Chris and Teyana were close friends, so when Rihanna started dating Chris, she also became friends with Teyana. They got along well at first, but things quickly took a turn for the worse.
In September 2013, Teyana posted a video clip of herself singing Anita Baker’s “Caught in the Rapture.” Shortly after, Rihanna uploaded a video of her hairstylist, Yousef, poorly singing the same song while wearing Teyana’s signature look: a curly wig and a baseball cap.
Teyana responded by tweeting at Rihanna: “Petty is petty and shade is shade. She knew exactly what she was doing. I sing ‘Caught in the Rapture’ on IG, then she posts her boy singing the same song, the same part, with curly hair and a snapback. #Petty.”
This sparked a nasty Twitter feud. Rihanna mocked Teyana’s net worth of $500,000 compared to her own $90 million. Teyana fired back, suggesting Rihanna’s net worth matched her high body count, saying Rihanna had 90 million dollars and 90 million men.
Rihanna made it clear she wasn’t going to fuel the feud too much, implying it would only help Teyana’s career. She said, “I refuse to help your career. You will not get an app from me. Not till you pay me. #NoMoreFreePromo #IRefuse.”
They both took their rivalry to Twitter by changing their header pictures to mock each other. Rihanna’s header compared their net worths, while Teyana used a photoshopped image showing her hitting a photo of Rihanna’s injured face from the Chris Brown incident. The shade, y’all, the shade.
Teyana’s move to mock Rihanna over domestic violence sparked serious outrage. A Change.org petition demanded that Teyana lose her Adidas/Reebok sponsorship deal, which indeed happened because of the feud.
Even after her first sneaker launch, Teyana’s Adidas deal was on shaky ground. The deal eventually ended, with Adidas stating, “We have ended our relationship with Teyana Taylor and do not have any upcoming product launches with her. Adidas partners with athletes and artists who align with our brand values.”
Teyana clapped back on Twitter, saying, “Hey haters, imma let y’all finish, but I had the fastest-selling Adidas of all time.”
The feud was messy, and anyone who paid attention knew there was more going on. Rumors had circulated about behind-the-scenes tension, but the social media war confirmed that Teyana and Rihanna had serious beef.
In an interview on Hot 97, Teyana expressed her confusion over Rihanna’s mockery. She said Rihanna’s fans enabled her mean behavior, but when she targeted Teyana, she picked the wrong person.
“I think she has a problem with me. You know, she has dope music. I’m not a hater. Dope music is dope music. She’s a pretty girl, but that doesn’t mean you can bully anybody. It doesn’t work like that.”
If you’re curious about what sparked this nasty Twitter feud, here’s the scoop: it all started when Rihanna found out Teyana was hooking up with Chris Brown while they were together.
To make things more complicated, Teyana and Chris had been friends for years and were part of a Harlem squad called The Breakfast Club. Rihanna and Teyana had a sister-like bond until 2009, when Chris assaulted Rihanna. Teyana sided with Chris and allegedly leaked an explicit photo of Rihanna.
Defending Chris was a bold move, and many people labeled Teyana as a domestic violence apologist. Teyana later explained to Vibe, “A lot of people were jumping on different bandwagons, and I really felt like that was whack. Before the incident between him and Rihanna, Chris had always been my brother. When we met, we clicked instantly, from our fashion styles to our love of basketball and dancing. I’ve known him for four years, and I was one of the only people who stood by his side when the situation happened.”
To complicate matters, Teyana was a good friend of Karrueche Tran, Chris Brown’s next girlfriend and Rihanna’s rival. According to Teyana, if Rihanna expected her to side with her instead of Karrueche, she was out of her mind because she met Rihanna through Chris. As Chris Brown’s close friend, her job was to make his girlfriends feel comfortable.
At the time of the DV incident, Rihanna allegedly reached out to Soulja Boy, who was dating Teyana. That caused a lot of problems. Soulja Boy mentioned, “That’s Rihanna, man. She’s the biggest R&B person. She just got humiliated. Come to the show, ain’t no big deal. I was dating Teyana Taylor at the time.”
According to Soulja Boy, when Rihanna got to the tour bus, he told everyone to leave, including Teyana. “I said, ‘Yo, Teyana, you gotta go. I know you’re my girl and all, but Rihanna just got on the bus. Y’all gotta go.'”
Teyana got mad and called Chris, saying, “He’s on the bus with Rihanna right now.” There was already tension between Rihanna and Teyana, so her boyfriend kicking her out of a bus to talk to Rihanna didn’t sit well with her.
There was also an allegation that Rihanna was offended when Teyana didn’t interview her. Teyana said Rihanna ripped off her style. In an interview with Complex, Teyana mentioned artists like Rihanna and Rita Ora and explained how she paved the way for their sexy, boyish look and how she was rapping and singing before it was cool.
In her words, “I do feel like I influenced a lot of artists, but I don’t look at it negatively. I love them. When I came into the game, it wasn’t okay to be a girl and wear sneakers, hats, and streetwear. They called me gay. Now the Tomboy thing is sexy. Rihanna and Rita Ora are fly and sexy. I’m happy I was able to pave that way. I love seeing our artists dress like that. You ain’t gay if you’re throwing sneakers and a hat.”
That also made Rihanna feel some type of way.
Years after the feud, both Rihanna and Teyana tried to make it look like they had worked things out. Rihanna once defended Teyana when a stan made disrespectful comments about Teyana’s deceased grandparents. Rihanna DM’d the stan, put her in check, and explained the difference between being a stan and an internet troll.
For her part, Teyana said Rihanna’s fans were making a big deal out of everything. In September 2016, it seemed like the drama was officially over when Teyana gushed about her exclusive Puma X Fenty collection, said to have been personally sent to her by Rihanna. They were even spotted at events together.
But if you ask a lot of people, they’ll tell you that Rihanna never forgave Teyana. Someone who made fun of the most humiliating time in her life, possibly hooked up with her boyfriend, and publicly called her out—do you think Rihanna got over all of that?
Let me know what y’all think in the comments section below.
