Earlier this year, Jenna Ortega presented an award at the Golden Globes, and in doing so shocked many fans with the way she pronounced Rihanna’s name.
Although the ‘Umbrella’ songstress has been around for years, it seems that we have been pronouncing it wrong all this time!
The night was full of surprises, from Eddie Murphy making a hilarious joke harking back to Will Smith’s Oscars slap, to Austin Butler’s Elvis accent coming out during his acceptance speech.
However, one thing that many fans noticed had nothing to do with any of this drama, and much more to do with something that lots of us have been doing wrong all this time.
When presenting the award for Best Song in a Motion Picture, the presenter and star of Wednesday Jenna Ortega ran through the nominations, which included big names such as Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.
“I’m gonna get to original song in a minute, we got artists like Taylor Swift and Rihanna competing for that award,” she said.
“I know, I’m very excited.”
Although none of these artists came out victorious (the award went to ‘Naatu Naatu’ by M. M. Keeravani), one viewer noted that Ortega’s pronunciation of the ‘Rude Boy’ singer’s name was not how they have been saying it.
Turns out, that viewer wasn’t alone! TikToker sugneshin_ shared her thoughts in a short video, and fans have flocked to the video to agree.
Rather than pronouncing Rihanna’s name like Ree-awh-na, it is actually said like Ree-an-nah.
Even Rihanna’s very own beauty brand, Fenty Beauty, commented on the difference.
“Miss Wednesday understood the assignment,” they wrote, accompanied by a speaking emoji.
Other fans have agreed that the change in pronunciation is a revelation.
“The fact that we found out from Jenna Ortega and not Rihanna,” one person said.
Another wrote: “I knew how to pronounce it but “reeonna” just makes more sense to me.”
A third commented: “Still gonna say it bc there’s no way I’m gonna remember.”
While a fourth said: “So my name is also Rheanna and it always drove me INSANE how people mispronounce it.”
However, not everyone thought it was a revolutionary discovery.
One person commented: “It’s an American thing, don’t know any English people who don’t already say it correct.”
Irish and Australian users also agreed that the issue here is mainly an American one!
