Rihanna takes aim at Snapchat after beating ad, accused Snapchat of shaming domestic abuse victims

NEW YORK: Rihanna on Thursday accused Snapchat of shaming domestic abuse victims after an advertisement made light of her beating by fellow pop star Chris Brown.

The social media platform -- which counts 187 million users, especially young people drawn to its quickly vanishing posts -- had featured an advertisement for "Would You Rather?," a game app that asks sometimes provocative questions.

The commercial showed the two singers and asked Snapchat users whether they would rather "slap Rihanna" or "punch Chris Brown."

Rihanna took to rival platform Instagram to denounce Snapchat, which had pulled the advertisement after an uproar.

"You spent money to animate something that would intentionally bring shame to DV (domestic violence) victims and made a joke of it!!!!" she wrote.

Rihanna responding to Snapchat's ad. I can't believe they did this. pic.twitter.com/TpHQIXTm4j

— Gennette Cordova (@GNCordova) 15 March 2018

"This isn't about my personal feelings, cause I don't have much of them...but all the women, children, and men that have been victims of DV in the past and especially the ones who haven’t made it out yet....you let us down! Shame on you."

A Snapchat spokesperson said that the advertisement had been "reviewed and approved in error, as it violates our advertising guidelines."

"We immediately removed the ad last weekend, once we became aware. We are sorry that this happened," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Snapchat had already come under fire from activists and social media users who questioned how the post made it past the platform's review process.

"Just awful. Awful that anyone thinks this is funny. Awful that anyone thinks this is appropriate. Awful that any company would approve this," Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, wrote on Twitter.

Chris Brown was convicted in 2009 of beating Rihanna, his then-girlfriend, who was forced to miss the 2009 Grammy Awards.

The assault further shocked many observers when Rihanna, one of the most successful singers of the 21st century, temporarily resumed her relationship with Brown afterward.