Omg! Rihanna is broke and only has $20,000 dollars to her name!

[Re:★]

Did anyone else hear about this? Check it out:

Originally posted at MTV & NME
Rihanna's now ex-business manager Patricia Willliams has been recently fired as she recalls "for no good reason, all in ignorance" and is "livid" with Rihanna & her management company Rebel One's decision to axe her.

Rihanna recently met with Willliams to check on her accounting affairs and was shocked to see that almost all her money was missing. She instantly accused Willliams of "stealing her money."

"I'm a professional Business Manager, I have a staff of more than a dozen, I have worked for many high profile actors, musicians and multi-million dollar corporations. Why would I steal from Rihanna?" She continues, "I showed her all the paperwork and tried to explain to her the circumstances but she wouldn't listen. She called me all sorts of horrible names and stormed off. I now feel compelled to share with the world the background story as I will not allow my name to be slandered"

The Barbados born singer has had four back-to-back albums, including a re-release since her debut of "Pon De Replay" in 2005.

According to Willliams, Marc Jordan, manager and owner of Rebel One Management has been taking care of Rihanna's financial situation with her. "Def Jam doesn't fund Rihanna properly, so Marc uses the money Rihanna makes from third-party endorsements and from tours to fund her album and music videos." Since 2005, Rihanna has been sponsored by the likes of JC Penny, Samsung, Covergirl, Secret, Venus Breeze etc,. and has gone on two major tours, most recently label-mate Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark" Tour and with PussyCat Dolls across Europe.

"I don't want to disrespect Marc's name. He is a fantastic manager and genuinely believes in Rihanna. But he uses her money to fund her future projects because he believes he can break her in the world-market. Her album sales are not nearly as close to her single sales and he knows that if she is only known as a 'singles artist' she will only be as good as her last hit. Unfortunately, he didn't inform his client and I'm receiving the brunt of it."

Why is Def Jam lacking in funding support for there act? Why was so much money spent? How much exactly? Williams continues,

"Her record label Def Jam has put out 3 albums in a time span of 2 years. Alot of that was orchestrated through her management Rebel One. It was never Def Jam's intention to release so many albums back-to-back but Marc Jordan found loop holes and ways to make it happen.
A lot of the money Rihanna made through her endorsements between CoverGirl Cosmetics, Samsung.. Notice that majority of Rihanna's videos have a cell phone in it?"

"After the release of Rihanna and Teairra Mari, Def Jam had intention to drop both acts because their album sales were not successful. Her manager fought to get [S.O.S (Rescue Me)] and quickly tried to negotiate with as many companies as possible. Nike picked up the song and funded a video. This brought the hype back for Rihanna in the company's New York office. Majority of the official 'S.O.S' video was funded by Samsung because the record label was only willing to put up a small amount. Once 'S.O.S' picked up digitally and at radio, Def Jam agreed to fund the rest of her album. Jordan instantly got a video shot to 'Unfaithful' (he negotiated with video director Anthony Mandler to drop his price and would be given more videos from Rihanna in return). Then they shot 'We Ride' which was an extremely cheap video to create. 'Break It Off' was released as a third album, but again, Def Jam was unhappy with the sales of her album "A Girl Like Me" and refused to shoot a video. At this point Rihanna was opening up for the PussyCat Doll's in Europe. She was making 30,000 a show but she didn't see any of that money because it was needed to fund her next album." Which is now known to the greater public as a 'Good Girl Gone Bad'.

"The song "Umbrella" was found & Jordan fought again for Rihanna to have it. They shot the video, which CoverGirl funded half of, and the song became a success. When the record label had there meeting with Music Stores across the U.S to order her album for shipment, the number's weren't coming in the way that they expected. When the album's first week numbers came in at less than 150,000, the label was shocked. Def Jam's President LA Reid was livid! Umbrella was #1 for 11 weeks! Any other artist would have sold way more first week. T-Pain even did better in sales than her that week. Def Jam told Jordan they were no longer funding the album, so Jordan needed money again to pay for music videos 'Shut Up & Drive' and 'Dont Stop The Music'. Almost 250,000 was spent to have those videos created. Plus, an additional 120,000 to shoot 'Hate That I Love You'. Jordan was noticing that 'Dont Stop The Music' was picking up, so her persuaded the label to support it at radio in the U.S and the remaining singles, and they did."

"Then came for the repackaging of her album 'Good Girl Gone Bad', which is called 'Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded', that entire project was funded through Rihanna's money. 'Take A Bow' was bought through her money, the video was created with her money and so is her most recent video and single 'Disturbia'. The label didn't even want to pay a dime for anything! Close to 750,000 was spent on those two songs alone. And now she expects to see money in her account?"

Williams states that Jordan, her publicist from well-respected public relations firm 42-West, Alicia Silverman has built alot of hype around Rihanna's name but the singer has only made "a little bit above a million" and "all of it was spent on making her as big as she is now. It's not my fault that she only has 20,000 to her name."

Makes sense to me. I mean, what else can explain Rihanna seemingly having so much funds pumped into her as a 'brand' when she is far from a guaranteed album seller (which is where most label revenue comes from). Many an artist will tell you that the fantasy and reality of being in the music industry are very different; reading this back really reinforces that to me. This is all part of that music industry game, her problem was she thought she was going to do a Usher/Confessions type of thing because of Umbrella...

SAUCE, SAUCE.

Hahaha!Rihanna?Broke?Not so sure about that...

[Sundae]

Hope they figure out what's going on. My question is why are they able to access her bank account? Unless it's a special bank account.

[Rainbow141]

Hmm....definitely a rumor to look into.... Is it really true?

[Re:★]

Well seeing as her business manager has said it, and MTV and NME both made in front page, I'm sure it's likely. It's not entirely Rihanna's fault though, that LA Ried guy clearly spent way too much money to make her as big as she is today.

[ImpactBreaker]

wow, that's definitely sad.

[Melon Panda]

The price of fame, literally.

[Luv ~Venus~]

Originally Posted by Re:★

Did anyone else hear about this? Check it out:



Makes sense to me. I mean, what else can explain Rihanna seemingly having so much funds pumped into her as a 'brand' when she is far from a guaranteed album seller (which is where most label revenue comes from). Many an artist will tell you that the fantasy and reality of being in the music industry are very different; reading this back really reinforces that to me. This is all part of that music industry game, her problem was she thought she was going to do a Usher/Confessions type of thing because of Umbrella...

SAUCE, SAUCE.

I agree with you austin. I'm really shocked. I see why she's releasing so much stuff and being sponsored by name brand companies. Girl, needs the money. From personal experiences, I can tell you that "A Girl Like Me" and "Good Girl Gone Bad" were both ****** albums. Seriously, they are. Please don't waste your money on her albums. Rihanna is an single artist. I wish I had know that sooner. I can see why her albums sale bad in the first week. They wait until like a month or two to release her albums after her singles began to lose hype. Plus Rihanna doesn't really promote her albums properly....just her singles. DDD: I thought the whole idea of them releasing Reloaded was STUPID. They might as wll had made a whole album. Americans aren't literally fond of buying extended versions of albums unless they hadn't brought the album.

Rihanna really did get sucker..really hard. The singles that were released after Unfaithful and SOS weren't remotely as big as the those two singles. The only MAJOR hit GGGB had was "Umbrella" (..and Hate that I Luv You I think). By her releasing reloaded, I think many people saw it as a waste of money to buy her album again, so they prolly just purchased the "newer" songs off Itunes. =/

Originally Posted by Sundae

Hope they figure out what's going on. My question is why are they able to access her bank account? Unless it's a special bank account.

The media always had access to celebrites bank accounts...well, their salaries and expenses. The management companies seem to release info like this to the public for unknown reasons. It was only a matter of time until we found out something about Rihanna. I hope this isn't a sign that she is going to be losing popularity. DDD:

[No_Doubt]

Originally Posted by Luv ~Venus~

I agree with you austin. I'm really shocked. I see why she's releasing so much stuff and being sponsored by name brand companies. Girl, needs the money. From personal experiences, I can tell you that "A Girl Like Me" and "Good Girl Gone Bad" were both ****** albums. Seriously, they are. Please don't waste your money on her albums. Rihanna is an single artist. I wish I had know that sooner. I can see why her albums sale bad in the first week. They wait until like a month or two to release her albums after her singles began to lose hype. Plus Rihanna doesn't really promote her albums properly....just her singles. DDD: I thought the whole idea of them releasing Reloaded was STUPID. They might as wll had made a whole album. Americans aren't literally fond of buying extended versions of albums unless they hadn't brought the album.

Rihanna really did get sucker..really hard. The singles that were released after Unfaithful and SOS weren't remotely as big as the those two singles. The only MAJOR hit GGGB had was "Umbrella" (..and Hate that I Luv You I think). By her releasing reloaded, I think many people saw it as a waste of money to buy her album again, so they prolly just purchased the "newer" songs off Itunes. =/

While I'm not surprised with this news and would agree Rihanna is percieved as a single artist, it's definitly not because Good Girl Gone Bad was, well, bad. It's more because of her infamously bad first two albums, which were absolutely atrocious, and I say this as a huge fan. Sure, music is subjective, and I don't mean to sound like I'm attacking you, but calling GGGB anything less than an extremely solid pop album is ridiculous to me. Seriously, you can't deny it has virtually no filler (except maybe Say It), and has had the best string of internationally successful singles of any female pop album this decade. If anything, most of her GGGB singles were much bigger than both SOS and especially Unfaitful. Umbrella and Dont' Stop The Music were both mega hits internationally, and Disturbia and Take A Bow have already performed incredibly well in the U.S. Next to Shut Up and Drive, Hate That I Love You was probably her least successful GGGB single, by the way.

[ImpactBreaker]

^I used to have a simillar thought like you, but one day I thought: if someone is able to move millions of people into liking what they've done or what they do, they more than deserve the money they earn. After all, a lot of ppl is getting "benefit" (in this case, enjoying) from what they've done. Even though yeah, teachers should be paid better but that's another story imo...

Originally Posted by No_Doubt

Sure, music is subjective, and I don't mean to sound like I'm attacking you, but calling GGGB anything less than an extremely solid pop album is ridiculous to me. Seriously, you can't deny it has virtually no filler (except maybe Say It), and has had the best string of internationally successful singles of any female pop album this decade. If anything, most of her GGGB singles were much bigger than both SOS and especially Unfaitful. Umbrella and Dont' Stop The Music were both mega hits internationally, and Disturbia and Take A Bow have already performed incredibly well in the U.S. Next to Shut Up and Drive, Hate That I Love You was probably her least successful GGGB single, by the way.

I agree. I personally thought GGGB album was actually a pretty decent pop album. Singles ARE what make albums in US anyway; it is not like japan. And I personally thought the album had very few fillers if you compare it to several famous albums and the Reloaded addition only made what was already a good album into a much better one.

[ladytaboo]

Originally Posted by No_Doubt

While I'm not surprised with this news and would agree Rihanna is percieved as a single artist, it's definitly not because Good Girl Gone Bad was, well, bad. It's more because of her infamously bad first two albums, which were absolutely atrocious, and I say this as a huge fan. Sure, music is subjective, and I don't mean to sound like I'm attacking you, but calling GGGB anything less than an extremely solid pop album is ridiculous to me. Seriously, you can't deny it has virtually no filler (except maybe Say It), and has had the best string of internationally successful singles of any female pop album this decade.

ITA with this. I'm a Rihanna fan, but her first two albums kinda sucked. GGGB however was excellent imho.

Also didn't something similar happen to TLC? They had a hit album and then bankruptcy.

Yeah, it's happened to a lot of people. TLC, Nsync, Toni Braxton etc.

[ExodusUK]

Am I the only one not surprised by this? Sounds pretty fair enough for someone who doesn't write their lyrics or headline world tours. That's where all the money is made.

[Luv ~Venus~]

Originally Posted by ExodusUK

Am I the only one not surprised by this? Sounds pretty fair enough for someone who doesn't write their lyrics or headline world tours. That's where all the money is made.

I mean, you wouldn't really expect it since you see her on tv like all the time, being sponsored by name brand companies and stuff. Just today, I saw her new Covergirl CM and her Circuit City CM. I would have thought Def Jam would have taken better care of one of their main money sources. Hmph, I guess she's not one of their main money sources now huh?! Ne-yo's the one who's literally put Rihanna into the spotlight. Majority of her popular hits were written and co-written by him. Knowing this now, this only makes me worry about Hikki being on their label. Def Jam is an epic disappointment when it comes to promoting and supporting their artists. DDDD:

[Ayumi-Yummi]

WOW, It's sad but that's the biz... I always thought not writing her own songs would hurt her in the end... and she's so young to be going through this mess.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by ExodusUK

Am I the only one not surprised by this? Sounds pretty fair enough for someone who doesn't write their lyrics or headline world tours. That's where all the money is made.

I thought that she wrote that Umbrella song. I heard something like that. Anyway, she is horrible at her concerts too. Saw her live and was incredible disappointed. Scary looking makeup and wardrobe. She did a remix(if you want to call it that) of Umbrella and she messed it up. Never seeing her live again.

Also didn't something similar happen to TLC? They had a hit album and then bankruptcy. I was rather young when this happened first so I don't remember the details.

[Luv ~Venus~]

Originally Posted by Sundae

I thought that she wrote that Umbrella song. I heard something like that. Anyway, she is horrible at her concerts too. Saw her live and was incredible disappointed. Scary looking makeup and wardrobe. She did a remix(if you want to call it that) of Umbrella and she messed it up. Never seeing her live again.

OMG! You don't even have to attend her lives to know that she sucks. Her tv performances can tell you that. She tries to dance and sing at the same time and it looks like a train wreck. Definitely a studio person.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Luv ~Venus~

OMG! You don't even have to attend her lives to know that she sucks. Her tv performances can tell you that. She tries to dance and sing at the same time and it looks like a train wreck. Definitely a studio person.

The only performance of her I seen is the one from MTV music awards with Chris Brown. She spent like 1 minute on stage walking and posing around. I should have known. Anything looks good when Chris Brown is onstage with you! Biggest regret of my life!

I don't see how it's sad. It's not like being a musician is some incredibly underpaid job. Whatever, no one should be making hundreds of millions just for entertaining. Give it to people who deserve it (teachers).

[Ayumi27]

Originally Posted by dddaiyamondo

I don't see how it's sad. It's not like being a musician is some incredibly underpaid job. Whatever, no one should be making hundreds of millions just for entertaining. Give it to people who deserve it (teachers).

Couldn't agree more. Let's not make a huge deal about something that might me false... And if it's true, she releases a few more singles, or sign some promotional deals and she's done again...
We should worry more about teachers, doctors, police and others before actors, singers, football players' paychecks

[extepan]

Originally Posted by dddaiyamondo

I don't see how it's sad. It's not like being a musician is some incredibly underpaid job. Whatever, no one should be making hundreds of millions just for entertaining. Give it to people who deserve it (teachers).

very well said!