Rihanna Visits Barrington High School 4 Hours Late, Stays 16 Minutes
By Amy Cavanaugh in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 23, 2013 4:00PM
Rihanna attends as the Rihanna for River Island collection is launched at the Oxford Street River Island store on March 4, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)
The visit came about because Barrington High won a contest the singer sponsored to create videos set to her “Diamonds” single that showed the school's charity work. Barrington High students take part in local and national service projects, including assisting tornado victims in Joplin, Missouri.
Students waited hours for her arrival, which was originally supposed to be at 1 p.m. On Thursday, that was pushed back until 2 p.m. At 4:22 p.m., she instagrammed a photo of herself sitting in traffic and wrote, "This Chicago traffic is not working." She arrived at 5:30 p.m., at which time some students had already given up, and then stayed 16 minutes so she could get to her concert at the United Center.
The Tribune has some choice quotes from the 2,500 students who waited.
"It's one thing to be fashionably late. This is just rude. Our lives don't revolve around a pop star," said junior Patricia Halle, who nicknamed the afternoon "the survive Rihanna event.""Our school worked hard to win this. She should be more respectful," Halle said.
Her friend Cassie Mullay said she was thinking about leaving, having waited since 1 p.m. "It's so rude."
Seventh-grader Jaki Mora said: "Rihanna is pathetic. She shouldn't be making us wait for her."
Rihanna apologized to principal Steve McWilliams and sent more tickets for her show to be handed out to students. She also sent her DJ to entertain students while they waited.