Pop sensation Rihanna has finally won her lawsuit against Topshop. London’s Court of Appeal upheld their ruling that Topshop could not sell t-shirts with the singer’s image, without her consent. The image the company was using was from Rihanna’s music video shoot in 2011. Rihanna considered the series of t-shirts released to be damaging to her brand, and she felt the photo used on the shirt was “unflattering” and of “poor quality.” The Unapologetic singer sued Topshop’s parent company, Arcadia, for $5 million dollars in 2013. This is the first time a celebrity has won a case of its kind in the United Kingdom.
Rihanna‘s first three albums Music of the Sun, A Girl Like Me, and Good Girl Gone Bad all peaked in the Top 10 on the Billboard charts in 2005, 2006, and 2007. The chart topping single, “Umbrella,” from the Good Girl Gone Bad album remained at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks. The album’s re-release, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, was put out in 2008. The re-release and the original album accumulated nine Grammy Award nominations. In 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, the singer released four consecutive platinum-selling albums including Rated R, Loud, Talk That Talk, and Unapologetic. To date, Rihanna has sold over 150 million records worldwide.
The pop singer has headlined five major tours, and co-headlined one tour with Eminem in 2014. Rihanna’s Diamond World Tour in 2013 stopped in North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, she performed a total of ninety-six shows. The tour grossed over $140 million dollars, becoming the fifth highest grossing worldwide tour of 2013. The Diamonds’ tour stop in France proved to be historic. Rihanna became the youngest artist to ever headline a concert at France’s National Stadium; she was 25 years old at the time. Rihanna made her acting debut in the film Bring It On: All or Nothing in 2006. The film also starred Hayden Panettiere and fellow musician, Solange Knowles. After a six year film hiatus, the singer starred in the blockbuster science-fiction movie, Battleship. The movie grossed over $300 million worldwide, and it was Rihanna’s first blockbuster film of her career.