Promoter denies Beenie embarrassed Rihanna

The promoter of Reggae On The Hill, Roger Hill, has denied claims that Jamaican deejay Beenie Man embarrassed Barbadian singer Rihanna at the event which was held Sunday night in Barbados at Farley Hill National Park.

Reports have been circulating on the Internet that the self-proclaimed King of the Dancehall humiliated Rihanna by discussing onstage the alleged assault of Rihanna by Chris Brown that sparked international attention. In February, Rihanna was reportedly physically beaten by then boyfriend Brown in Los Angeles.

The case is currently before the court with Brown facing two felony charges – assault by means likely to create great bodily injury and making criminal threats.

THE STAR tried contacting Beenie Man’s camp for its version of the incident but was unsuccessful. However, at least one Jamaican singer who performed at the show said it was not an awkward incident as “Beenie Man was just being himself and the crowd was taking it as a joke and she (Rihanna) never looked embarrassed”.

off-key version

According to www.islandista.wordpress.com in an article titled ‘Beenie Man shames Rihanna’, a report states “he (Beenie Man) start talking up a set of things about the infamous beating incident between her (Rihanna) and Chris Brown, asking the crowd if they didn’t think it was “ah eediat ting weh Chris do”, while singing a very off-key version of the hook to Umbrella. You could hear a collective “ooooohhhh!” as the crowd sucked in its breath when he said it.

The report continued, “Beenie kept calling for her and singing Umbrella and lo and behold, she actually came up on the stage. Then he start singing his version of Umbrella, part of which went, ‘Mi nuh have no fancy car/but mi neva give you no scar’.”

Afterwards, Beenie reportedly told Rihanna that Chris Brown would have a heart attack if he saw the picture of them hugging onstage.

a joke

Hill, however, denied that the incident was an embarrassing one, saying it was all a joke. When contacted by THE STAR, he admitted to not witnessing the whole incident but said, “I heard the Chris Brown thing – I wouldn’t say it was embarrassing. She (Rihanna) came onstage of her own free will and was dancing with him and that same night she invited Beenie to an after party which they attended.”

Hill elaborated that this was Beenie Man’s first time on the event which he described as a success saying, “the show was massive. It’s one of the premier events in the Eastern Caribbean for reggae music. Everybody loved it and the artistes got a huge response”.

The fifth staging of Reggae On The Hill featured other Jamaican artistes such as Buju Banton, Morgan Heritage, Queen Ifrica, Duane Stephenson, Konshens and a guest performance by Turbulance.

Source: JamaicaStar