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Teen mocked by Rihanna online ‘very offended’

Posted at 1:06 PM, May 16, 2014
and last updated 2014-05-16 13:06:43-04

(HLNtv.com) -- Social media is full of people posting about celebrities, but what happens when famous people post about you?

That's what happened recently when a Baltimore teen posted an image of herself dressed like her idol Rihanna.

HLN reached out to the teen for comment but has not heard back. She did speak to a local news station though, saying that the unique web-like dress was an all-black piece that she had designed especially for her prom, which was last week. "Everybody was saying, 'Oh my God, I love it, it looks nice, your body looks good -- it's different,' " Alexis Carter told Fox 45 in Baltimore.

Things were great until the next day, when photos of the 16-year-old in the dress began circulating on social media. Gradually, the term #PromBat began to trend on Twitter. Carter, who posts under the Twitter account @Lexxy_Charms, was mortified to discover that none other than Rihanna had shared a photo of Carter, which immediately went viral, but in the worst way.

The "Diamonds" singer posted a picture of Carter next to herself with a frown face.

"I was very offended," Alexis told the TV station. "Why throw shade on it when you had on the exact same thing?" she said of Rihanna. "The poses was different, but the outfit wasn't." Rihanna then took it further and posted yet another picture of Carter's dress, this time next to the Wu Tang logo, which has a winged shape.

CNN reached out to Rihanna for comment but has not heard back.

While it's become commonplace for people to post amusing pics on social media, recent weeks have seen celebrities, long the butt of jokes for working-class folks, jab back in mean ways at regular people online.

TNT basketball analyst and former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal made news last month when he uploaded a split photo of himself mocking another person's appearance. Turns out Jahmel Binion of Madison Heights, Michigan, has ectodermal dysplasia, a genetic condition that can cause physical abnormalities.

After the incident, Binion went to local media and launched an anti-bullying campaign, Hug Don't Judge, which has more than 22,000 members on Facebook. O'Neal and rapper Waka Flocka Flame, who also made fun of him, later apologized on social media for their faux pas.

"Made a new friend today when I called and apologized to Jahmel Binion. Great dude.#alwayslearning #MYBADCUZ," O'Neal tweeted on April 29.

As for Carter, she said she was so inspired by Rihanna's outfit that she never would have imagined her version of the dress would become an object of ridicule. "I was like, 'Oh my God, I love this outfit, I wanna go with this outfit, let me go show my mom,' and I was like, 'Mom, Mom, Mom, I wanna wear this, it's cool, I love it," she told Fox 45.

But that's exactly what happened. So far, Rihanna has posted plenty of other things on her social media account but has not addressed Carter's dress again.

"She don't love her fans like she says she does," Carter told the station.

The-CNN-Wire
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