Rihanna Plays Chauffeur to Oprah in Barbados for Upcoming “Next Chapter” Interview

Posted by Emily Exton on 08/10/2012 at 9:08 AM Videos

The Popdust Files: Interviews, Oprah, Rihanna

Thanks to Rihanna’s prolific tweeting, we’d been tipped off that she spent a day with Oprah in Barbados, riding around in a jeep—yes, the driver’s seat is on the other side—and walking through her old neighborhood as passersby greeted the young girl formally known as Robyn. ”I went there with my own ideas of who she was,” Oprah tells the camera of Sunday’s upcoming episode of her Next Chapter series on OWN, airing Sunday August 19. “I thought she was going to be a badass, kind of a hard-edge, rocker-pop woman.” Instead she became witness to a local girl made good, whose fame is celebrated and appreciated by friends and family, but hasn’t disconnected her from her roots. RiRi welcomes her famous guest into her home, introduces her to loved ones, and chauffeurs her through the streets of her hometown, stopping to hug people along the way and riff on the weather they’ve been having. “This is how you know who somebody is, how people react to them,” Oprah observes. Rihanna looks every part the girl next door in her full-length sun dress and flowing hair, seemingly at ease to be on her turf rather than in front of a firing squad of paparazzi facing questions about Chris Brown or her missing ass for the millionth time..

Admittedly both impressed and surprised, Oprah comments on how thoughtful, emotional, vulnerable, and skilled at driving the 24-year-old was during their interview session, which suggests the two really uncovered some serious subjects, rather than just let O scold her on the use of “fuck” in her everyday tweets. ”I’m super-duper afraid of the pedestal that comes with fame” Rihanna explains. “It’s amazing how lonely you can feel.” Now there’s the money question! Watch below.