Ooh na na, what’s her name?
Fans took to Twitter to criticize Jimmy Kimmel’s pronunciation of Rihanna’s name on Sunday night during the 2023 Oscars telecast – but was he flawed?
Throughout the show, Kimmel introduced the first-time nominee as “Rih-ANN-uh”, which didn’t sit well with some fans of the “Bad Girl” icon.
As usual, indignant social media followers immediately took to Twitter to lash out at this 12 months’s Oscars host for mispronouncing the pop superstar’s name.
“I will be haunted by Jimmy Kimmel’s Rihanna pronunciation” @hannahkritz he complained.
“Why does Jimmy Kimmel pronounce Rihanna like he’s from Canada?” @bilburton sniper.
Why is Jimmy Kimmel talking about Rihanna? Or have I been saying it flawed for a decade? @JLrube questioned.
It seems, nonetheless, that Kimmel was Actually using the correct pronunciation of the Barbadian musician’s name.
“Jimmy Kimmel pronounces Rihanna like he’s from Nigeria. The truth is, that may even be the right approach to say it.” @Paracelsus II recorded.
“Cheers to Jimmy Kimmel for being the first person to pronounce Rihanna’s name accurately” @ShenaeCurry he said.
“Hear Jimmy Kimmel pronounce Rihanna’s name *accurately*” @AndySwift tweeted.
The singer has previously explained as early as 2010, her name is accurately pronounced “Rih-ANN-uh” – although lots of her fans still don’t pronounce it that way.
Rihanna was invited to this 12 months’s ninety fifth Annual Academy Awards after being nominated for her performance of “Lift Me Up” from the movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Endlessly”.
Kimmel hailed the celebrity in his opening monologue, joking about the length of the awards show and Rihanna’s baby son.
“Last month she performed at the Super Bowl and tonight Rihanna will perform at our halftime show in about 4 and a half hours,” he joked.
“Rihanna has a 9-month-old baby behind the scenes. He could be very sweet,” added the TV presenter. “He pooped during rehearsal. You already know who was the last person to poop backstage at the Oscars? The accountant who mixed up the envelopes.
In a while the show, Rihanna performed “Lift Me Up” as a touching tribute to Chadwick Boseman who played Black Panther before he died of colon cancer on August 28, 2020.
Her song didn’t win an Oscar – RRR’s dance track “Naatu Naatu” did – but the follow-up to Black Panther won several awards, including Best Costume Design, making Ruth E. Carter the first black woman to win two Oscars and the first designer who won for each the original film and its sequel.