In November 2024, a claim shared on social media alleged that Grammy Award-winning performer Rihanna would reveal a new song if the Democratic nominee for U.S. president, Vice President Kamala Harris, won the 2024 presidential election.
A post on X claimed the musician said, "If Kamala wins, I'll drop a song. Just do what y'all gotta do in order to make that happen."
(@headnavy on X)
One user replied, "Is there no end to their narcissism?" Another said, "I almost fell for it. You f***er," to which the original poster replied, "We have to secure the win somehow."
Indeed, the original post came from the account @headnavy, a Rihanna fan account, which confirmed via multiple posts in the thread that the post was a joke. The name of the account is a reference to the "Rihanna Navy," a term often used for her most die-hard fans.
While no credible news outlets reported the news that Rihanna would be dropping a new song pending the outcome of the election, the artist did make headlines with an election-related post on Instagram.
Rihanna is a citizen of Barbados and is not eligible to vote in U.S. elections, but she has used her platform to encourage fans to vote using the hashtag "#votecauseicant."
On Nov. 4, 2024, Rihanna posted an Instagram Reel that jokingly read, "POV: me trying to sneak into the polls with my son's passport" with an accompanying post saying, "when protecting p****** and firing p****** can happen all in one vote."
While Rihanna stayed active in her comments following the post, unfortunately it was mostly responding to trolls. There was no suggestion of new music tied to the outcome of the election.