Pop star Rihanna started a Twitter war on Tuesday with an up-and-coming New York singer by posting a video that mocked the lesser-known diva, hot-tempered Harlem hottie Teyana Taylor, for trying to sing like R&B legend Anita Baker.
The online row got going with an Instagram clip of Ri Ri’s male hairstylist, Yusef, butchering the same Anita Baker song, “Caught in the Rapture,” that Taylor had sung quite tenderly a couple of weeks earlier on Instagram.
Taylor, 22, records for Kanye West’s GOOD Music record label. In the clip posted to Rihanna’s “badgirlriri” Instagram feed, Yusef is wearing a ridiculous wig as if to poke fun at Taylor’s trademark flowing locks.
Alerted by Twitter followers to the spoof, Taylor responded with a barrage of hate tweets that confirmed her self-description as “[a] hot temper mixed with a cold killer.”
“[P]etty is petty … ” began one of the gentler notes to her 868,000-plus tweeps.
Rihanna sniffed at the responses from the lesser known performer and told her 31.8 million twitter followers: “Screaming in an empty room! #dontfeedtheanimals,”
She also changed her Twitter background photo to a mock accounting statement of both singer’s net worths — with Taylor listed at $500,000 and Rihanna at $90 million.
Taylor responded with cruel references to Rihanna’s abuse at the hands of then-boyfriend Chris Brown, including the infamous picture of Rihanna’s bruised and swollen face, photoshopped onto a picture of a boxer.
But while Teyana kept up the hostile patter all afternoon, Rihanna suddenly stepped off. The “$90 million” background photo disappeared from her Twitter feed — replaced by a picture of lipsticks – as did an earlier tweet that read, “I REFUSE to help your career … you will NOT get an @ from me! Not til you pay me! #nomorefreepromo #iRefuse”.
Whether Ri Ri was backing down or just bored, Taylor took a victory lap, with her last tweet on the subject being a high-five from a fan who exclaimed, “Damn! Rihannachanged her background and deleted her tweets!”