When Alexis Carter, a 16-year-old Baltimore girl, heard about her school’s Hollywood-themed prom, she decided to imitate her idol, Rihanna. After her family friend crafted an outfit similar to the Alexandre Vauthier jumpsuit Rihanna wore to the 2010 Echo Awards, Alexis proudly wore it to her prom night – and it was a hit.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love this outfit, I wanna go with this outfit let me go show my mom,’ and I was like, ‘Mom, mom, mom, I wanna wear this, it’s cool, I love it, oh my god,'” she told her Local Fox affiliate. “Everybody was saying, ‘Oh my god, I love it, it looks nice your body looks good it’s different.'”
In a turn of events, her outfit started circulating around social media the day after with the hashtag #PromBat trending on Twitter. Many people altered her original photographs and made fun of her, but what shocked her most was when her former-idol Rihanna also started mocking her. In one tweet, Rihanna tweeted a comparison picture of her and Alexis with a sad face, and in another, she posted a picture of Alexis with the bat-like logo of the Wu-Tang Clan.
🙁 pic.twitter.com/tagcvWs9cn
– Rihanna (@rihanna) May 9, 2014
She gets it pic.twitter.com/DCqsvPXAjk
– Rihanna (@rihanna) May 9, 2014
“I was very offended. I picked that outfit because my idol had worn it. I loved her,” Alexis said. “I was astonished that she would do something like that. She’s a grown woman and she bashed me. I thought she would praise it. For someone who claims to love her fans, this sure doesn’t show it.”
Since the incident, Carter has taken steps to remove the unapologetic singer from her life. “I threw all her CDs in the trash,” she said. Her Twitter background also changed to a photo of a grinning Chris Brown, who assaulted Rihanna back in 2009.
Others came in Alexis’s defense and spoke out against Rihanna for her action.
“No longer a fan of @Rihanna, I don’t care who you are, bullying is never okay! #PromBat,” one person tweeted.
Another person tweeted, “GROSS. Celebrity status comes with responsibility. Celebrities who bully are cowards. Grow up, #Rihanna.”
Rihanna has not made any official comments for the incident.
