Yesterday, the world went so nutso when images leaked of Rihanna posing topless for the cover of French publication Lui that the magazine's web site crashed and even Instagram shut her down for being too explicit. A number of people took offense from Rihanna for exposing herself, but for true pop fans, showing flesh is not new news: the top divas have been going topless for years. Whatever you think about it, here are the reasonings behind going naked straight from five of the most iconic pop stars in the biz today.
"I don't like people who hide things. We're not perfect, we all have things that people might not like to see, and I like to show my faults." - Grace Jones
"I don’t have the same hang-ups that other people do...I don’t think that sex is bad. I don’t think that nudity is bad. I don’t think that being in touch with your sexuality and being able to talk about it and being able to talk about this person and their sexuality [is bad]. I think the problem is that everybody’s so uptight about it that they make it into something bad when it isn’t, and if people could talk about it freely, we would have people practicing more safe sex, we wouldn’t have people sexually abusing each other, because they wouldn’t be so uptight to say what they really want, what they really feel.” - Madonna
"You see, sex isn't just fire and heat, it's natural beauty. Doing what comes naturally. It's letting go, giving and getting what you need. In the age of AIDS, it certainly requires being responsible. On a psychological level, though, good sex, satisfying sex, is also linked with losing yourself, releasing, using your body to get out of your body. Well, for the first time, I'm feeling free. I love feeling deeply sexual—and don't mind letting the world know. For me, sex has become a celebration, a joyful part of the creative process." — Janet Jackson
"I just don't get what half the girls are wearing. Everyone to me seems like Vanna White. I'm trying to tell girls, like, ‘F--k that. You don't have to wear makeup. You don't have to have long blonde hair and big t--ties. That's not what it's about. It's, like, personal style.' I like that I'm associated with sexuality and the kind of punk-rock s--t where we just don't care," — Miley Cyrus
"I don’t really feel like my left nipple is all that important. I don’t really have an issue with nudity. It’s not the first time I’ve shot topless either. I don’t really find anything wrong with being topless. My mom and I used to go tanning at the beach topless. So I don’t really look at it as a sexual thing.
I’d sell way more if I just put a picture of my face. That’s the fact. I’d sell more copies of me just looking cute. That’s what sells more. That’s what sells at Wal-Mart. Not someone in a bathtub looking like they’re about to kill someone. Topless. " — Sky Ferreira
