Featured Image Credit: Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty Images & Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film, Rihanna
Katherine Sidnell
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film, Rihanna
Despite having been on the music scene for 19 years, apparently, we've all been pronouncing Rihanna's name this entire time.
I know, how embarrassing - sorry Riri!
One woman seemingly on hand to correct our mistake, however, is Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega.
Last year - ahead of her controversial performance in latest project Miller's Girl - the now 21-year-old took to the stage at the 2023 Golden Globes, where she put us all to shame for butchering the singer's moniker.
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Check out her naming and shaming session below:
Whether she meant to or not, the brunette beauty left fellow attendees rather red-faced by pointing out how wrong they've been all these years.
Speaking about Rihanna's - real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty - nomination for Best Song with her track 'Lift Me Up' from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she explained: "I’m gonna get to original song in a minute, we got artists like Taylor Swift and Rihanna competing for that award.
Only when she said the 'What's My Name' singer's moniker correctly did it dawn on fans that they've been making the same mistake for decades.
Whilst most didn’t notice the difference in pronunciation, there is a subtle change in the way Ortega says the tricky moniker.
Surprisingly, instead of Ree-awh-nah it should be pronounced Ree-an-nah - leaving fans of the Umbrella singer in shock.
Many commented on clips of Ortega's pronunciation, with one writing: “dont tell me it took jenna ortega for everyone to realize.”
Others quickly joined in, with one fan commenting: “Rhi-awhna was how I been saying it dammmm.”
Another also wrote: "Dang...so I've been saying her name wrong my whole life?!! I feel embarrassed now. I had NO idea that was how you correctly pronounce her name!"
However, some questioned Ortega with one fan writing: “the queen will need to speak for herself what her actual name is."
Whilst Rihanna hasn’t spoken about Ortega’s pronunciation, her brand Fenty Beauty praised the 20 year old actress commenting: “Miss Wednesday understood the assignment”.
Tik Tok creator @sugeneshin_ took to the video platform to explain why the name had been mispronounced for so long.
“Somehow it changed when she first blew up,” explained the creator in the short clip, before giving the correct way to pronounce Rihanna’s name.
However, fans shouldn't be too hard on themselves as @sugeneshin_ admitted she’d been doing the same during her short video on Tik Tok. She then went on to express how grateful she was for Ortega correcting fans.
“Thank you Jenna for correcting like 95 per cent of us.” The creator told her 1.2 million followers.
Though the Rihanna has corrected people on numerous occasions before this, the incorrect name seems to have become the standard – especially in the US.
However, if you want to hear the correct pronunciation from Queen Ri Ri, the singer taught fans how to say her name on The Ellen Show back in 2010.