Rihanna blasts Snapchat – shares fall

Shares in tech company Snapchat fell more than four per cent today after singer Rihanna blasted the app on social media.

The Bajan popstar, 30, hit out at Snapchat after it featured an advert that made fun of her 2009 assault by her then boyfriend, US singer Chris Brown.

Rihanna said on Instagram: “SNAPCHAT I know you know you ain’t my fav app out there! But I’m just trying to figure out what the point was with this mess!,

“You spent money to animate something that would intentionally bring shame to DV victims and made a joke of it!!!,” she said. “Shame on you. Throw the whole app-oligy away.”

Snapchat had hosted an advert for an online game called “Would You Rather!” which showed pictures of Rihanna and Brown next to captions that said "Slap Rihanna” and “Punch Chris Brown.”

Brown was convicted in 2009 of an assault on Rihanna which left her with a bruised and swollen face and a split lip.

Shares in the tech company fell by more than four percent from from $17.88 (£12.83) to $17 during the course of the day.

In a statement earlier this week Snapchat said that the offending advert, which has now been taken down, “was reviewed and approved in error, as it violates our advertising guidelines".

This is not the first time Snapchat’s share price has been vulnerable to social media pronouncements from celebrities.

Last month Kylie Jenner, a member of reality TV’s first family the Kardashians, wiped around $1.3bn from Snapchat’s market value after denigrating the app on Twitter.

Jenner tweeted: "So does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad."

The comments, came after a controversial redesign of Snapchat which was negatively received by some of its users. Almost a million people signed a petition calling for the previous version of the app to be restored.

Jenner later rowed back on her earlier comments saying Snap was still her "first love".

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