Snap shares are down for a second straight day after the social media giant received pointed criticism from Rihanna over a third-party ad that appeared to make light of domestic violence.
On Thursday, Snap shares plunged nearly 4 percent, wiping out roughly $800 million from its market value, according to The Wall Street Journal and CNN, and during Friday trading the stock has slid another 1-2 percent.
Snapchat came under fire earlier this week after users noticed an ad for the mobile game “Would You Rather?” which offered up two options “Slap Rihanna” or “Punch Chris Brown” that reference Brown’s 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend prior to the Grammy Awards. Later that year, Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault and received five years probation and six months of community service.
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On Monday, the app maker issued an apology for the ad, which was made by a third party but had to be approved in order to get posted, and said it removed it for violating the company’s advertising guidelines.
But then on Thursday, Rihanna responded to the controversy with a scathing Instagram post, saying the ad shamed domestic violence victims. “This isn’t about my personal feelings, cause I don’t have much of them…but all the women, children, and men that have been victims of DV in the past and especially the ones who haven’t made it out yet…You let us down!” she wrote. “Shame on you. Throw the whole app-oligy away.”
Last month, Kylie Jenner’s criticism of Snapchat’s redesign sent its share price down 6 percent, wiping away $1.3 billion of the company’s value.
