Rihanna has a reputation for tardiness.
The beloved artist has largely managed to dodge accusations of purposeful rudeness or disrespect by listing off excuses for her lengthy string of late appearances, but her delayed arrival to the 2023 Met Gala may have finally turned fans against her. Irritated viewers, music fans, and time-sensitive people in general blasted Rihanna for sticking to her trend of poor punctuality.
In the wake of Rihanna’s markedly late arrival — which came a full four hours after the red carpet began, and after it had officially closed — the tides of favor shifted against the 35-year-old singer. Fans blasted Rihanna’s apparent acceptance of her tendency to arrive late as “disrespectful” and pushed back against labels of the behavior as “cute or endearing.” In a Reddit post asserting this sentiment, user misssickf*ck shared a link to a Yahoo compilation of more than a dozen times RiRi was late between 2012 and 2013 alone. In the years since, her tendency toward lateness has arguably gotten worse, as she makes fans wait, time and again, after shelling out massive amounts for tickets.
Users in the comments had their own stories to add to the eleven compiled by Yahoo. These include one instance, in 2013, in which the star was more than three hours late to her own concert, and the story of a high school that, after winning an appearance from Rihanna in a national contest, got a mere 16 minutes out of the star after waiting a baffling 4 hours.
That is, unfortunately, just the tip of the iceberg. Commenters shared stories of Rihanna arriving typically a minimum of two hours late, and often drunk, high, or otherwise impaired. One even pointed out that this exact scenario crops up in an episode of The Good Place, well illustrating how widespread and longstanding her tendency toward tardiness truly is.
The lateness appears to extend far beyond her public appearances, too. One commenter noted that, while working behind-the-scenes with the star, she was a mind-boggling ten (ten!) hours late, and even then, people were delighted that she even showed. She’s apparently developed a reputation for arriving exorbitantly late — or just ditching obligations altogether.
Patience for Rihanna’s disrespect of others’ time appears to have fully run out, and the Met Gala is the straw that broke the camel’s back. After watching her once again flaunt timelines and expect applause, even longtime Rihanna fans are wearying of her behavior. Considering how often the issue arises, however, the Barbadian singer isn’t likely to become punctual anytime soon. Maybe organizers should take the same route my family takes with my oldest sister, and tell her the wrong start time in hopes of a punctual arrival.