Rihanna receives flak for smoking onscreen

London: Pop star Rihanna has been criticised by anti-smoking campaigners for lighting up a cigarette in her latest music video.

Rihanna recently filmed the promo for her single ‘We Found Love’ in Ireland and she is seen smoking in the footage. She has also released a series of publicity shots for her new album, ‘Talk That That’, and the provocative pictures show her sitting on a sidewalk and smoking, reports contactmusic.com. Officials at the Ulster Cancer Foundation of Ireland have now taken aim at the singer and accused her of promoting the bad habit to her young fans. Doreen Reegan, a spokesperson for the organisation, said, "Three-quarters of adult smokers start the habit as teenagers, which is why it is so irresponsible of Rihanna to influence her young fan base in this way... After so much hype around the filming of the video it was very disappointing to see Rihanna so blatantly smoking throughout it. "Artists such as Rihanna are held in high esteem and regarded as role models by millions of young people." IANS