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Rihanna baffles fans by grabbing her crotch and smelling her hand in Super Bowl halftime show

Home> Entertainment

Updated 08:10 13 Feb 2023 GMTPublished 07:33 13 Feb 2023 GMT

Rihanna baffles fans by grabbing her crotch and smelling her hand in Super Bowl halftime show

Some fans weren't happy with her 'disgusting' performance

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

Rihanna managed to steal the Super Bowl with her incredible half time performance, but some viewers have been left baffled by a particular fleeting moment from the show that you may have missed.

Yep, as she treated fans to a back catalogue of her greatest hits, at one point she grabbed her crotch and then smelt her hand:

In what was her first live gig in more than five years, the 34-year-old singer descended from above on a platform - dressed in a striking red outfit and flanked by a group of dancers - before treating us to a medley of hits including 'We Found Love', 'Diamonds', 'Rude Boy', 'Umbrella', and 'Work'.

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The star also used the occasion to confirm she is pregnant with her second child, having welcomed a son with partner A$AP Rocky last May.

But that wasn’t the only talking point of the evening, as viewers watching at home also clocked a bizarre detail in the set as Rihanna belted out ‘Rude Boy’.

As the camera moved in to the stage and through her dancers, Rihanna rubbed her hand across her crotch before gyrating several times.

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She then lifted her hand to her face and pretended to give it a sniff.

“So is it me or did Rihanna just grab her junk and then smell it and taste it?” one person tweeted.

“Way to stay classy!”

Another asked: “Did Rihanna just scratch her crotch then smell her fingers?”

Others, however, were a less baffled, and more angry.

One commented: “Low energy and disgusting. Why did she grab her crotch, then smell it!! Horrible show for our kids!”

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Someone else said: “Apparently I’m the only person in Twitter who thinks Rihanna’s halftime show was terrible. Why is she touching her crotch in a show kids are watching? And why are her backup dancers dressed like hazmat COVID freaks that do those gross brain swab tests?”

Generally, though, people were impressed by Rihanna's memorable set, with one tweeting: "Now THAT was a halftime show!! DAMN.

"Everyone involved in the direction, choreography, staging, dancing, and construction deserves so much credit for that #SuperBowl HT show."

Rihanna didn't even bring out any special guests, with the exception of a legion of dancers clad all in white.

On making the decision to perform again, she said: “I was like, ‘You sure? I’m three months postpartum.

“Should I be making major decisions like this right now? I might regret this.’

“When you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world — you can do anything.

“And the Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as that was…there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all.

“It’s important for my son to see that.”

Featured Image Credit: @jessicaknapik/@rokerglasses/Twitter

Topics: Rihanna, Celebrity

Jess Hardiman
Jess Hardiman

Jess is Entertainment Desk Lead at LADbible Group. She graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

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@Jess_Hardiman

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