--- title: Rihanna Defended for Texting, Late at Slave Play Broadway description: Slave Play playwright Jeremy O. Harris defended Rihanna after critics slammed her for arriving late and texting during the broadway show. canonical: https://time.com/5679104/rihanna-slave-play/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-09-17T16:44:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:00:18.803Z og:title: Rihanna Defended for Texting at Broadway Show Slave Play og:description: "A patron saint of the play I wrote" og:url: https://time.com/5679104/rihanna-slave-play/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteda4ef4b99cf6737/698a0300011682112097e386/rihanna-slave-play-broadway.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Rihanna's 5th Annual Diamond Ball og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rihanna Defended for Texting at Broadway Show Slave Play twitter:description: "A patron saint of the play I wrote" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteda4ef4b99cf6737/698a0300011682112097e386/rihanna-slave-play-broadway.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rihanna Arrived Late and Texted During Broadway Show 'Slave Play.' Here's Why Playwright Jeremy O. Harris Is Defending Her From Critics > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6163ecb3-be66-415d-859f-fff53d7841b0&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 17, 2019 4:44 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 12: Rihanna attends the 5th Annual Diamond Ball benefiting the Clara Lionel Foundation at Cipriani Wall Street on September 12, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/WireImage) NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 12: Rihanna attends the 5th Annual Diamond Ball benefiting the Clara Lionel Foundation at Cipriani Wall Street on September 12, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/WireImage) Taylor Hill—WireImage  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 17, 2019 4:44 PM UTC [_Slave Play_](https://time.com/5663574/fall-theater-2019/) playwright Jeremy O. Harris is defending music and fashion doyenne [Rihanna](https://time.com/5644171/rihanna-donald-trump-tweet-mass-shooting/) after online critics took her to task for arriving late and texting during a preview of the Broadway show. Harris, who interviewed Rihanna earlier this year for [_T Magazine_](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/20/t-magazine/rihanna-fenty-louis-vuitton.html), took to his Twitter to address the critiques, where he tweeted that Rihanna, “a patron saint of the play I wrote,” and her music played a key role in the play’s conception. He also noted that she was texting him during the play and he responded. “The patron saint of the play I wrote is literally a pop star, fashion icon, and Demi-goddess named Rihanna,” Harris wrote in a quote tweet of another post that criticized special treatment of the singer. “Her words are all over it. She’s a 9th character in the play. When Dionysus is coming, you hold the curtain.” > [](https://twitter.com/somedayboy/status/1173628343440293892) > [](https://twitter.com/somedayboy/status/1173318663316889608) > [](https://twitter.com/jenn32870/status/1173943354368962562) Rihanna’s influence on the play, is overt and integral. Audio from her hit 2016 song [“Work”](https://time.com/4195453/rihanna-work-drake-new-song-anti/) opens and closes the play and plays a key role in the storyline throughout, while a lyric from the song is featured prominently as part of the set. > [](https://twitter.com/jeremyoharris/status/1173106496844029953) > [](https://twitter.com/jeremyoharris/status/1173361628953399296) Harris also used criticism of Rihanna’s attendance and behavior as a way to open up a dialogue about respectability politics inherent in traditional theater etiquette and the issue of accessibility in the theater world. _Slave Play,_ which parses out the complexities of race, gender and sexuality in three contemporary interracial relationships, has put accessibility at the forefront of the production, offering 10,000 tickets at $39 and introducing a digital lottery and in-person rush system; at just six previews so far, the play has filled a nearly 99% capacity. > [](https://twitter.com/jeremyoharris/status/1173366886328930304) > [](https://twitter.com/jeremyoharris/status/1149336420852600832) Harris also organized a night for a showing of _Slave Play_ with an all-black audience, something he felt was important “after years of being the only black person in an audience of white faces…it felt like a corrective might be in order to show the potentialities of the space.” > [](https://twitter.com/jeremyoharris/status/1173703601614655494) > [](https://twitter.com/jeremyoharris/status/1173704383667810305) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5679104/rihanna-slave-play/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5679104/rihanna-slave-play/"},"headline":"Rihanna Arrived Late and Texted During Broadway Show 'Slave Play.' 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