Rihanna poses topless with baby: Singer criticised for posting semi-naked photographs with young niece

The singer is no stranger to controversy, but many users questioned her decision to take the nude shot with a child who wasn't her own

The fact that Rihanna has posted a topless picture of herself on Twitter is the least shocking news ever.

But this time it’s who she’s decided to pose with that has raised eyebrows.

The singer tweeted three photographs of herself holding her baby niece.

In the first two, she can be seen cradling the child in tracksuit trousers and a crop top as she kisses the baby lovingly on the forehead.

In the third image, however, she’s completely topless, seemingly wearing nothing but a lacy pair of French knickers and she clutches the baby – dressed only in a nappy – to her chest.

“Aunty and Me #girltime #twinzies,” she posted alongside the image on Twitter.

But the shot didn’t have the effect she perhaps desired (or maybe it did – and that’s exactly the point of it).

While scores of “Awww” and “Adorable!” and “<3s” were flung in RiRi’s @-tagged direction, Twitter feeds began to question why she thought posing semi-naked with an infant was a good idea:

Of course, Rihanna is no stranger to controversy. She caused a stir at the beginning of June when she attended the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards practically naked in a sheer, Swarovski-strewn Adam Selman gown wearing only a G-string to hide her modesty and with nipples on full display.

After experiencing a backlash for her unapologetic brazen behaviour, she asked one reporter: “Do my tits bother you?”

A perfume advert to promote her new fragrance Rogue was also recently given "placement restriction" after it was deemed too "sexually suggestive" to be viewed by children by the Advertising Standards Agency.

The campaign, shot by photographer Mario Sorrenti, featured a topless Rihanna leaning with her legs raised up against a perfume bottle.