Last week social media was in a frenzy after a video of Rihanna and friends was posted online. In the video Rihanna’s besties were dancing in the forefront, while Rih Rih busied herself in the background. Some people implied that Rihanna was doing cocaine and one Instagram user in particular became the subject of the Rihanna Navy’s wrath. Was a joke worth getting his page shut down and putting his family in danger?
The Philadelphia man’s original Instagram name was @easy1money. His real name is Eric Simmons and he had no idea what would happen to him when he decided to repost a video of the Bajan singer with the caption “Rihanna snort coke now” followed by the hashtag: “#shedanextWhitney.”
“I was not the 1st person to release the Rihanna video. Her friends who filmed her were the 1st. Then I woke up and seen it on my Instagram. I [used] Repost Whiz [to share the video],” Simmons tells RhymeJunkie.com. After he reposted the video, it was reposted several times and became pretty popular. So popular Rihanna left comments on his page accusing him of defamation and threatening to sue. “[Rihanna] threatened to sue and some fans and blog sites made a lot of false accusations that I really can’t speak on for the simple fact that I plan on filing a [law]suit,” he explained. “Blog sites and fans as well as Rihanna wanna cyber bully me and slander my name. The accusations that were made are false and exaggerated.”
What actions is he speaking of? Well, soon after Rihanna commented on his page it brought a lot of attention to Simmons. The Rihanna Navy wasted no time digging up intel on the Philly resident and immediately posted online that he was a sex offender. According to Simmons, those allegations are untrue. “Since everything has happened I’ve been questioned by many and looked at as a rapist.,” he says, “Being labeled a sex offender is the worse label you can have because it never goes away and your never forgiven. For the record I am not a sex offender, I have never abused or violated anyone sexually in any way shape or form.”
The Navy even posted photos of Simmons’ mothers home, along with the address. They were NOT playing around and Simmons doesn’t intend to play around either. Simmons plans on taking legal action against a few blog sites, Rihanna and some fans due to the false accusations regarding him being a rapist, as well as threats to his family. According to Simmons he and his family “are dealing with it the best way [they] know how.”
As far as whether Simmons regrets his comments, he says “I believe she was doing cocaine because she was playing with something on the table that resembled a rolled up dollar bill and she was playing with her nose. 1+1 usually=2. “I’m definitely a fan of her music. She is very talented and very beautiful. I’ve seen some shows. She’s an icon already. You can’t take that away from her but that gives [her] no right to look down on me or make threats and disrespect and downplay me. “I’m a man before the bullsh*t, at the end of the day. You push me I push back – straight up. Excluding nobody.”
It would be interesting to see how this one pans out. Do you think he has a case?
