Rihanna Taped Floyd Mayweather’s Mouth Shut For… Domestic Violence Awareness?

At the BET Awards on Sunday night, some producer made the very curious decision to seat Rihanna, a previous victim of domestic violence, next to Floyd Mayweather, who’s been convicted multiple times for assaulting women. If you want to be very, VERY charitable, you could say that it might have been a gesture to raise awareness for domestic violence via some sort of emotional triggering, but considering that Mayweather is disgustingly unrepentant for his crimes, that seems like a stretch.

When Rihanna used the roll of duct tape that she apparently brought with her to cuff and gag Mayweather, everything got a little surreal. It had to have been a scripted moment, right? If so, it can really only be taken as a condemnation of Floyd’s history of violence against women. But then why invite Mayweather to the event at all, much less stick him in one of the most prominent seats in the house? For the purpose of publicly shaming him for this gag? That’s a tough sell, considering Floyd’s expression clearly seems one of mock indignation, rather than the cold-eyed defiance he displays when denying his acts.

And if this was an improvised bit on Rihanna’s part, does that mean that Floyd was doing something untoward that prompted her to cuff and gag him? That’s an even darker interpretation. This is just a mess, and drew a host of confused-to-upset reactions from Twitter.

(Via CJ Fogler)