*Wednesday night in Los Angeles, Rihanna debuted her NSFW video for “Bitch Better Have My Money” by taking nearly 100 hostages – a.k.a. fans who were blindfolded, placed in luxury buses and driven to an exclusive, Tidal-sponsored launch of the video.
According to Rolling Stone, invitations were emailed Monday to local Tidal subscribers. The quickest to respond were given just enough details to attend the “Tidal X” event – promoting the service launched by Jay Z and now co-owned by a number of major artists, including Rihanna.
After fans took their seats, the “Bitch Better Have My Money” video began to play from a big screen, preceded by a parental advisory warning that promised grown-up “language,” “nudity” and “violence.” It delivered on all three, according to Rolling Stone, with feature-film production values and its star taking bloody revenge for debts unpaid.
“Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello!” Rihanna shouted when she finally appeared to loud cheers, her long red hair draped over one shoulder. She thanked fans for “allowing me to kidnap you.” The singer introduced the filmmaking duo from French collective Megaforce who co-directed the music video with her. “It took four days and nights to shoot this,” Rihanna said. “They held me down and helped me execute my vision. . . . Did you like it?”
Almost as soon as she asked, there was a loud bang in the room, and a shower of dollar bills fell from the ceiling as fans scrambled. Rihanna was suddenly gone.
She returned later as guests mingled over food and drink and she personally handed out more wads of cash, something like the stylish crime boss she portrays in the video. One guest, Penny Davis, 50, opened her purse to show two neat stacks of bills, still snug within bank straps. “She handed this to me,” she said, eyes wide with disbelief. “She kissed my hand. Very warm. Had me shaking afterwards.”
Before her exit to a waiting Cadillac SUV, Rihanna posed for group photos with her guests. “If you can see the camera, the camera can see you,” she instructed, speaking from experience. “You guys are the best fans ever. Thank you so much.”
Watch Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money” video below (WARNING: Explicit/NSFW):
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
