EJ Johnson’s viral vlog about the Dior show put Rihanna at the center of a new public dispute, and Charlamagne Tha God wasted no time pushing back. Johnson said the show started an hour late because Rihanna was late; Charlamagne said that kind of shade went too far.
The Dior delay claim
“It did start an hour late because Rihanna was late, and you know, like, we didn’t care to wait for her,” Johnson said in the vlog that set off the discussion. That single comment moved a private complaint into public view, because it tied a Paris Fashion Week delay to Rihanna by name and made the timing the story, not the clothes.
Johnson’s remark gained traction because it came from a figure who rose to fame on Rich Kids of Beverly Hills and because the clip spread quickly enough to draw a response on The Brilliant Ideas podcast. Once that happened, the exchange stopped being a casual gripe and became a public judgment about who gets to criticize whom inside fashion’s celebrity hierarchy.
Charlamagne Tha God’s line
“EJ, now EJ, you know I love you, but you got to know your limitations,” Charlamagne said on the podcast. He added, “There’s certain thrones you can’t throw rocks at, EJ, and Rihanna’s one of them.” He also said Johnson was “out of order,” and made the point more bluntly with, “There’s levels to this queen stuff.”
Charlamagne then widened the frame: “Now listen, there’s a lot of queens EJ stepping on. Like I like 99% of queens EJ stepping on. But it’s that 1% that EJ just not going to ever be able to touch. Rihanna’s one of them. Beyonce’s one of them.” That line matters because he wasn’t only defending Rihanna as a person; he was drawing a boundary around the names Johnson can swipe at without getting checked in public.
Rihanna was already being discussed in a different lane within the same culture cycle: Charlamagne described her as a global pop star, a businesswoman who started FENTY BEAUTY, and the face of Dior’s latest fragrance. In that context, Johnson’s complaint about waiting an hour reads less like a scheduling note and more like a status clash over who controls the room at Paris Fashion Week.
Paris after the podcast
Rihanna later reacted with a single word, “D-mn,” on a viral clip showing EJ appearing to be blocked from entering a Paris hotel. That response kept her side minimal, while the louder public commentary stayed with Charlamagne, who turned the delay complaint into a lesson about celebrity rank.
For Johnson, the practical result is simple: his vlog earned attention, but the attention now comes attached to Charlamagne’s warning that Rihanna and Beyonce sit beyond the line he tried to cross. For anyone tracking the fallout, the question is not whether the Dior show started late; it is whether Johnson says anything else after being told, on air, to stay in his lane.
