It turns out that almost the entire world has been pronouncing Rihanna incorrectly, but luckily Jenna Ortega was on hand to show us how it’s done.
We’ve grown up with the 36-year-old – I mean, I remember when she released her debut single ‘Pon de Replay’ while I was in elementary school at just eight years old.
Yet so many of us have apparently been saying her name wrong.
Two years later she released her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad which ‘Umbrella’ was part of, topping the charts for the singer – who was just 19 years old at the time.
Anyway, you get the point. For what feels like as long as we’ve been conscious of our surroundings, Rihanna has been releasing hits.
So, for people to be pronouncing her name wrong this whole time… she must feel it’s deliberate!
Yes, pronouncing it ‘Ree-awh-na’ is just wrong.
Well, thanks to Jenna Ortega, people are only just realizing their mistakes after she pronounced the star’s name correctly at the Golden Globes earlier this year.
Ortega pronounced Rihanna’s name correctly (NBC)
The 22-year-old was presenting the award for Best Song in a Motion Picture in January last year, but before announcing the winner, Ortega ran through some of the other artists nominated in the category, including Rihanna, who was up for her song ‘Lift Me Up’ from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
“I’m gonna get to original song in a minute, we got artists like Taylor Swift and Rihanna competing for that award,” she said.
“I know, I’m very excited.”
One fan on TikTok, @sugeneshin_, noticed that Ortega had pronounced Rihanna’s name differently to how they thought it was pronounced – and took to the video sharing platform to discuss.
Admitting they had been pronouncing the singer’s name incorrectly the whole time, other fans also revealed they had been doing the same.
It turns out that Rihanna’s name is pronounced Ree-an-nah, and not Ree-awh-na as some previously thought.
And Ri’s make-up brand, Fenty Beauty, were loving the fact Ortega had pronounced it correctly, commenting on one video: “Miss Wednesday understood the assignment.”
People admitted they had been saying Rihanna’s name incorrectly (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The Daily Front Row)
Others were shocked they had been saying it wrong the whole time, with one person commenting: “I’ve been pronouncing it wrong my whole life?!??”
While another said: “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!”
Others were adamant they had been saying it correctly the whole time, while a few people pointed out that, depending on where you live in the world, it’s often pronounced differently.
Many Brits commented to say they already pronounced Rihanna’s name the correct way, with a fifth adding: “In the uk we pronounce it the same as Jenna.”
Rihanna herself has previously confirmed that this is the correct way of pronouncing her name, telling Showbiz Tonight that Ree-an-nah is right.
