Rachel Dolezal will be happy to know she has at least one celebrity supporter, in the form of Rihanna. In the singer’s cover interview for Vanity Fair, she praises the former NAACP chapter leader as being a “hero.” Maybe Rihanna has a different definition of the word?
“I think she was a bit of a hero, because she kind of flipped on society a little bit. Is it such a horrible thing that she pretended to be black?” Rihanna asked.
“Black is a great thing, and I think she legit changed people’s perspective a bit and woke people up,” Rihanna added.
And this is why celebrities shouldn’t be asked questions when it comes to the politics of race.
Sure, being black is great. I’m great every day. But lying about being black isn’t anything great; it’s more a fraud. Dolezal couldn’t be further from the term “hero.”
Regarding her personal life, Rihanna also spoke about her relationship with Chris Brown in the wake of the domestic violence incident in 2009. Many people were shocked that she started dating Brown again after the incident, but as with many battered women, Rihanna said she thought she could change him:
I was very protective of him. I felt that people didn’t understand him. Even after … But you know, you realize after a while that in that situation you’re the enemy. You want the best for them, but if you remind them of their failures, or if you remind them of bad moments in their life, or even if you say I’m willing to put up with something, they think less of you—because they know you don’t deserve what they’re going to give. And if you put up with it, maybe you are agreeing that you [deserve] this, and that’s when I finally had to say, “Uh-oh, I was stupid thinking I was built for this.” Sometimes you just have to walk away.
Even after walking away, Rihanna says she doesn’t have any animosity toward him.
“I don’t hate him. I will care about him until the day I die. We’re not friends, but it’s not like we’re enemies. We don’t have much of a relationship now.”
To read the full interview, head over to Vanity Fair.