Rihanna is one of the most successful musicians of the 21st Century and has regularly been nominated as one of the most beautiful celebrities in the world. There has been a great deal of discussion about her eye color and whether or not the tone we see is her legitimate shade.
Rihanna has hazel eyes, a color with elements of both green and brown. This has caused debate due to her ethnicity, although a closer look at her ancestry goes a long way to explaining how she came to have such distinctive eyes. There are also examples of her eyes seemingly being a lighter color in certain photoshoots, adding to the confusion, though this can easily be explained as contact lenses or editing.
For a closer look at the debate surrounding Rihanna’s eye color, continue reading.
Green or Brown
Even in an age where the internet hosts countless beautiful, high-quality photographs of celebrities, it can be difficult to determine an individual’s eye color. Someone’s eyes might appear one shade in a particular photoshoot, public appearance, or movie, then look completely different somewhere else.
This is especially true with rarer colors; it can be easy to call somebody’s eyes dark brown or light blue but there is such a vast range of different shades of brown and green that naming a color can be difficult.
Rihanna is a perfect example of this; her eyes can appear anywhere between brown and green, depending on the image. It’s common for photoshoots to be edited with brighter eye color for extra impact and this has led to many of Rihanna’s professional shoots making her eyes look greener than their true shade.
Our best way of determining Rihanna’s eye color probably comes from public events and live TV appearances, which cannot be edited. Her eyes generally look to be a strong hazel color in these but it’s again worth remembering that camera flashes and bright studio lighting probably brighten her eyes more than they would appear in daily life.
In any case, all the available evidence points to Rihanna having hazel eyes: green around the edge of the iris and increasingly brown around the pupil. Certain photos and appearances make them appear a brighter green but this is probably the result of editing, lighting, or wearing contacts.
Rihanna’s Ancestry
There is the question of how somebody with Rihanna’s skin tone could have such bold, hazel colored eyes. However, her ancestry goes a long way to explaining her unique looks.
She was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Barbados in 1988 (and still prefers to go by Robyn with close friends and family). Her father, Ronald Fenty, has Barbadian and Irish ancestry while her mother, Monica Braithwaite, is African and Guyanese.
Ronald’s Irish blood is likely the result of about 50,000 Irishmen being deported to Barbados in the mid-1600s and used for slave labor and indentured servitude. The Irish and African workers suffered similar mistreatment and strong bonds formed between them, with many becoming romantically involved.
Today, there are many descendants of those unfortunate European and African slaves, which is why Irish surnames are common in Barbados today.
While Rihanna’s combination of skin tone and eye color is rare, especially when both her parents have brown eyes, it is not impossible. Two parents with European ancestry can have a child with hazel eyes, even if the gene is recessive. As chance would have it, Rihanna was one of these children.
Rihanna has spoken about the racial abuse she has endured throughout her life due to her lighter skin tone and unique looks. Today, those very looks, combined with her musical ability, have helped her become one of the most beloved singers in the world.