Updated story
Maybe this was the reason Rihanna's management banned press for the star's scheduled appearance for Barrington High School students.
According to the Barrington Courier-Review's live-blog of the star's meeting with the contest-winning students at BHS, as of publication time, the star was running more than three hours late.
Around 5:30, the singer reportedly made to the school with just two hours to spare before her 7:30 p.m. concert at the United Center in Chicago.
Attendees had been tweeting their frustration, with many leaving the event as the star continued to be a no-show. Meanwhile, a DJ reportedly started a dance contest to quell the antsy crowd which, as of 4 p.m., had been waiting four hours since doors to the event opened.
Rihanna had promised (via Twitter, of course) that she was indeed en route...
But appeared to blame her delay on traffic several minutes later.
The pop-R&B superstar is set to visit students in the wealthy Chicagoland suburb of Barrington after its TV production class won a nationwide video contest detailing the school's charity efforts set to the singer's hit "Diamonds."
From the looks of the students' five-minute video (with some pretty impressive production value) you can't so much as sneeze in Barrington without an uber-helpful student offering assistance.
Barrington High students have tallied some impressive acts of charity, with students serving more than 45,000 of community service in the past year.
According to the video feature, BHS students raised hefty sums for GiGi's Playhouse, a Chicago charity for kids with Down Syndrome, $700,000 for the American Cancer Society, led anti-bullying campaigns and awareness efforts to end the use of the "R-word" and even helped save a local business.
According to Fox Chicago, the singer will spend about 45 minutes meeting students and taking questions during the free event.
A student moderator in charge of the Q&A is assuring the chat session won't be scandalous, telling the Tribune, "We will avoid...100 percent" any questions about [Chris] Brown," the star's rumored on-again-off-again boyfriend who pleaded guilty to assaulting her in 2009.
While the star is not expected to perform at her appearance, it will be kept exclusive to students after Rihanna's management issued a media ban for the event. According to ABC Chicago, a release from Barrington 220 School District says the star "wants the focus of the event to be on the students, not on her."
According to the statement, the press ban goes against the school district's "normal" procedure, which would have permitted news coverage.
The March 22 visit is technically spring break for Barrington High schoolers, but the date was chosen to coincide with the singer’s concert at the United Center.
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