2023 has already been huge for Rihanna thanks to her kicking the year off by performing the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Some folks thought the performance was obscene enough to file complaints with the FCC, with at least one viewer likening it to pornography. Residents at Arcadia Senior Living Bowling Green in Kentucky were apparently cool with it, though, so much so that they re-created the performance themselves (and earned the attention of Jay-Z in the process).
A TikTok video shared back in February starts with two rows of white-clad seniors lined up, parting to reveal the Rihanna of the video, wearing all red and enthusiastically mouthing along to Rihanna’s “Rude Boy.” The clip was a viral hit and has since been viewed over 30 million times.
@arcadiasrlivingbg Our halftime show > Rihanna’s halftime show
#seniorlivingcommunity #halftimeshow #SuperBowl #rihanna #fyp
Jay-Z was apparently tickled by the video, as he sent a bouquet of roses to the Arcadia Senior Living memers. Arcadia resident Sue Evans told Bowling Green’s WNKY, “There’s 100 of them. And they’re from Jay-Z. My granddaughter was worried and she told her mother, ‘I hope she knows who Jay-Z is!’”
The senior living facility that recreated Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show on TikTok said Jay-Z sent them ‘100 red roses’ pic.twitter.com/K0qOgll8rI
— JAY-Z Daily (@JAY_Z_Daily) March 6, 2023
Fellow Arcadia resident Dora Martin also said, “My grandchildren and I watched and there were flips and flops and I was standing there thinking, ‘Wow, I wish I could do that,’ and then I did do that.” She added, “I went to the doctor the other day and the nurses, as soon as I walked in there, knew who I was.”
Martin also said of Jay-Z’s gesture, “I thought that was wonderful, very nice of him!”
Rihanna sent flowers as well, according to a post on Arcadia’s Facebook page.