Why Rihanna Mispronounced Her Name During “SNL” Shy Ronnie Sketch with Andy Samberg

The "Diamonds" singer's name is pronounced "Ree-ann-ah," similar to how "and" or "van" sounds

NEED TO KNOW

• Rihanna mispronounced her name during the “Shy Ronnie” SNL sketch in 2009
• Over 15 years later, Lonely Island members Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer spoke about how it came to be in the sketch and remained in the final version
• Rihanna still calls Samberg “Shy Ronnie” whenever she sees him

Rihanna wasn't gonna make things even worse for Shy Ronnie on SNL.

During the Sept. 30 episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, the comedians reminisced on the "Shy Ronnie" Saturday Night Live skit, which featured the "Diamonds" singer, 37, and Andy Samberg.

The digital short takes place in an elementary school classroom, where Rihanna and Samberg, 47, as Shy Ronnie, present a song to the class together. Ronnie mumbles through the song until Rihanna leaves the room, and he confidently raps without her present.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor butts in at one point to clarify the correct pronunciation of her name during the podcast episode. "Which, by the way, it's Rihanna," Samberg said, putting emphasis on the middle syllable for the "an" part to sound like "and" or "van."

"Which we learned also that week. She told us it's Rihanna. And we were like, 'Why don't you correct people?' She's like, 'I don't care. I also know it's Rihanna.' "

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Seth Meyers added, "And I still say Ree-awn-ah cuz it feels like, I one, I know she doesn't care and, two, it seems like you're saying it wrong," pronouncing the "an" sound like "yawn."

"It's almost like Rihanna is her stage name," quipped Samberg.

"She had already recorded on the song because we did our temp, which was Andy, as usual, our Thursday 2 a.m. temp," recalled Samberg's Lonely Island bandmate Akiva Schaffer, who noted that her mispronouncing her own name was in part Samberg's fault.

"Andy went, 'Ree-awn-uh and Shy Ronnie,' and then she was so great at recording exactly Andy's inflections to get the jokes perfect that she did that [too]."

Schaffer, 47, added that he later heard the "Love on the Brain" singer pronounce her name the correct way and was mortified to realize he used the wrong pronunciation.

"I heard her say her name to somebody else out loud, and I went, 'Why did you say Ree-ann-uh? Wait, is your name Ree-ann-uh?' " he recalled. "She's like, 'It's fine either way!' And I'm like, 'What does your mom call you?' And she's like, 'Ree-ann-uh.' And I'm like, 'Aw.'"

Ultimately, the sketch was a fond memory for the mother-of-three. "My favorite thing about Rihanna is when I see her at things like an award show or something, I still to this day don't know if she knows my name," Samberg said.

"She always just goes, 'Shy Ronnie!' And I am thrilled to be acknowledged."

"I have a lot of love for Shy Ronnie. When I see him, I feel for him," Samberg concluded. "I think there's a lot of truth in Shy Ronnie for me. And in all of us."

The first "Shy Ronnie" sketch aired in December 2009 when Rihanna appeared as a musical guest.

The sketch was so well-received that the nine-time Grammy winner came back for a second "Shy Ronnie" digital short the following October, titled, "Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie & Clyde (feat. Rihanna)."

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