Inside Rihanna's 'S&M': How a Taboo Pop Anthem Redefined 2010S Radio

Your complete guide to Inside Rihanna's 'S&M': How a Taboo Pop Anthem Redefined 2010S Radio, including critical updates.

Q1: Why did BBC Radio 1 refuse to play the track during daytime hours?
A1: Regulators at the station determined that the song’s overt references to sadomasochism, bondage, and sexual dominance breached daytime broadcast standards aimed at protecting school-age listeners. The station restricted the track to evening slots after 7:00 PM and demanded the sanitized "Come On" edit for any daytime playback.

Q2: How did the Britney Spears remix affect the song's chart placement?
A2: Under Billboard chart methodology, sales of both the solo original and the collaborative remix were merged into a single entry. The remix drove over 293,000 digital purchases in a single week, giving the single the necessary points to vault from the lower top-tier directly to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Q3: What was the final resolution of the David LaChapelle lawsuit?
A3: David LaChapelle sued Rihanna, director Melina Matsoukas, and Universal Music Group in early 2011, claiming that the video lifted exact lighting, color grading, and conceptual stagings from his copyrighted fine-art photographs. The parties settled the federal case out of court in October 2011 for an undisclosed sum.