Rihanna field antics get DUP man down

Filming of a new music video for R&B star Rihanna in Co Down has finished early after the owner of the field where the shoot…

Filming of a new music video for R&B star Rihanna in Co Down has finished early after the owner of the field where the shoot was taking place complained some of the scenes were "inappropriate".

The singer, who is here to play three concerts in Belfast and one in Dublin over the next week, was making a video for the single We Found Love in the field just outside Bangor when the farmer asked for filming to end.

DUP alderman and farmer Alan Graham said this morning he received a request last week for the use of the grain field but was unaware of what the video shoot was about.

Mr Graham, who admitted to being somewhat "illiterate" when it comes to the pop world, said he did not know who the 23-year-old singer was before yesterday.

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The filming was taking place close to a busy dual carriageway when the singer stripped to a bikini after removing a long checked dress. This was something Mr Graham felt uncomfortable with and thought was "inappropriate".

Mr Graham, a councillor for Bangor West, said he spoke to the singer, whom he described as being "gracious", and asked her to stop the shoot.

"She understood where I was coming from," the father-of-four told RTÉ's Morning Ireland today. "I don't want to say what I said to Rihanna or what she said to me. We had a conversation. We shook hands and parted company on good terms."

"I come from a Christian ethos, and I do know that this type of activity for some people is day-to-day work, but I do believe that there does come a time from my point of view when it becomes inappropriate if it's on my land," he said.

Mr Graham had agreed that one of his fields could be used for yesterday’s recording but was not aware what the production team had in mind for the pop superstar when they moved to an adjoining piece of land. Earlier, he had used his tractor to help pull free some recording equipment which got stuck in mud. He also helped fill in a hole with some of his straw.

Mr Graham, who owns 60 acres at Clandeboye outside Bangor was just about to head for home when he saw Rihanna in her bikini. “I realised things had got to a stage which were not acceptable to me, Things became inappropriate and I asked the film crew to stop," he said.

Rhianna, who hails from Barbados, achieved worldwide fame with her 2007 hit Umbrella and has since had a string of other hits including Don't Stop the Music and Take a Bow.