--- title: Rihanna Take a Bow Meme Gives Internet Good Cover for Lies description: A clip of Rihanna's "Take a Bow" music video has become the Internet's new go-to meme for when you don't want to tell the whole truth. canonical: https://time.com/5706059/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-21T15:12:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:00:57.475Z og:title: Rihanna Take a Bow Meme Lets Everyone Express How They Feel og:description: Handy for when you don't want to express how you really feel og:url: https://time.com/5706059/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16ae732600864661/698a049e86f68e7d016edc01/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: 2019 BET Awards - Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rihanna Take a Bow Meme Lets Everyone Express How They Feel twitter:description: Handy for when you don't want to express how you really feel twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16ae732600864661/698a049e86f68e7d016edc01/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rihanna's 'Take a Bow' Meme Is Perfect for Everyone Putting on Quite a Show With Harmless Lies > Sponsored content. 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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.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 21, 2019 3:12 PM UTC  LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 23: Rihanna speaks onstage at the 2019 BET Awards on June 23, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 23: Rihanna speaks onstage at the 2019 BET Awards on June 23, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Kevin Winter—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 21, 2019 3:12 PM UTC [Rihanna](https://time.com/5696356/rihanna-super-bowl/) is no stranger to the [art of going viral](https://time.com/5704146/rihanna-bikini-instagram-video/) — whether it’s [stunting in feathered glory during Crop Over](https://time.com/5644699/rihanna-crop-over-2019/) or [serving face at a voguing ball](https://time.com/5700203/rihanna-reaction/), the bad gal knows what the Internet wants and blesses us accordingly. This time, however, it’s Rihanna’s music that’s taking a turn in the social media spotlight, after a clip of her singing a particularly resonant line in her 2008 music video, “Take a Bow” went viral. In the video, Rihanna sings “That was quite a show/Very entertaining,” with an air of dismissiveness meant for an ex; however, the Internet has found it fitting for expressing distaste or disinterest for just about anything with the perfect amount of shade. On Twitter, fans wasted no time in deploying the clip to talk about everything from being unimpressed with the current toast of the television zeitgeist (\*cough _Succession_ cough\*) or merely apathy towards things you find obligatory. See the best uses of the Rihanna “Take a Bow” meme below. > [](https://twitter.com/g0ld3nretriever/status/1185364754107392000) > [](https://twitter.com/sirbizlow/status/1186078494511554561) > [](https://twitter.com/ezmiIler/status/1186076334147227649) Some even got meta with it. > [](https://twitter.com/PRlSMoutsold/status/1186281891546193925) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5706059/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5706059/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme/"},"headline":"Rihanna's 'Take a Bow' Meme Is Perfect for Everyone Putting on Quite a Show With Harmless Lies","datePublished":"2019-10-21T15:12:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:00:57.475Z","description":"Handy for when you don't want to express how you really feel","url":"https://time.com/5706059/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16ae732600864661/698a049e86f68e7d016edc01/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16ae732600864661/698a049e86f68e7d016edc01/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2019 BET Awards - Show","caption":"2019 BET Awards - Show","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5706059/rihanna-take-a-bow-meme/","name":"Rihanna's 'Take a Bow' Meme Is Perfect for Everyone Putting on Quite a Show With Harmless Lies"}}]}] ```