Did Rihanna's Lipstick Give a Woman Herpes?
Looks like Rihanna now has something other than a nasty break-up and a world tour to worry about: a lawsuit involving herpes.
Starkeema Greenidge is claiming she contracted the virus from a sample of the singer's RiRi Woo lipstick. She was supposedly given the stick at a MAC pop-up store in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn during a Rihanna concert. The "Stay" singer inked a deal with the cosmetics giant back in February to act as a "creative partner" for four MAC collections called RiRi [Hearts] MAC.
The lawsuit was filed against MAC and is being heard by Manhattan's supreme court. According to the Guardian, Greenidge is seeking unspecified damages for "mental anguish and emotional distress" caused by negligence. Her lawyers allege that that the sales assistant "didn't use a fresh or new lipstick tube, but rather one that had been used for other patrons" and was then told to "press her lips together and spread the lipstick around".
Doing just that supposedly resulted in a cold sore two days later and a doctor diagnosis of oral herpes.
"This is going to happen over and over again if nothing is done," the 28-year-old waitress told the New York Daily News. "I wasn't able to work for two weeks. It cost me a lot of money."
In addition to damages, Greenidge and her lawyers are calling on MAC to start using only disposable lipstick or sanitized swabs and improve hygiene training for all of their clerks.
We're guessing all mentions of "herpes" will be deleted from any upcoming Rihanna tour documentaries.
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