Rihanna launched her beauty label Fenty Beauty earlier this year, and has now taken to social media to call our competitor brands who use diversity - in particular, transgender people - as tokenistic marketing tools.
The famous musician responded to a fan who commented on Fenty Beauty not having trans representation in its marketing and campaign imagery.
The fan said in a private message to Rihanna, "Fenty Beauty campaign is awesome, next time you record something, [you] should invite a trans girl to the group”.
Much to his surprise, the star responded, explaining her decision not to 'tokenise' transgender models.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with many gifted trans women over the years,” she replied, “but I don’t go around doing trans castings! Just like I don't do straight, non-trans women castings!
“I respect all women. Whether they’re trans or not is none of my business. It's personal and some trans women are more comfortable being open about it than others so I have to respect that as a woman myself!
“I don’t think it’s fair that a trans woman, or man, be used as a convenient marketing tool! Too often do I see companies this to trans and black women alike! There's always just that one spot in the campaign for the token "we look mad diverse" girl/guy! It's sad."
The fan, who goes by 'savage' on Twitter, posted a screenshot of the interaction, with the caption, "When I thought she couldn't teach me more... @rihanna
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