Pop singer Rihanna criticized Snap Inc. for running an ad that asked users to decide whether they wanted to slap her or punch Chris Brown, saying it made a joke of her history as a victim of domestic violence.
Snapchat removed the ad, which was placed by a mobile-gaming company, and apologized, saying it was a mistake. The Los Angeles-based company didn’t immediately have further comment on Rihanna’s criticism. Snap stock fell almost 5 percent.
“Now Snapchat I know you already know you ain’t my fav app out there,” she wrote Thursday in an Instagram story, “but I’m just trying to figure out what the point was with this mess! I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb!”
She said Snap let down victims of domestic violence, which she experienced while dating Brown in 2009. “Shame on you.”
Snap shares slid 4.8 percent to $17.07 at 12:50 p.m. in New York. Rihanna’s note was the latest round of celebrity criticism of Snapchat, an app that lets people send photos and messages that disappear. Reality-TV star Kylie Jenner earlier this year criticized a redesign of the app.
