White House welcomes Rihanna

Pop superstar Rihanna visited the White House on Monday for a tour of the West Wing and a visit with some of President Obama’s top aides.

The “Diamonds” singer met with staff “regarding a few issues that are critical to our agenda for expanding opportunity, including the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative,” a White House official said.

{mosads}The My Brother’s Keeper program was launched by President Obama to find ways for the federal government and private sector partners to offer greater assistance to minority men that are most likely to drop out of school or have interactions with the criminal justice system. In recent months, President Obama has appeared alongside other celebrities — including NBA stars like Chris Paul and Magic Johnson — to promote tutoring and mentorship programs.

The program has been central to the administration’s response to unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and corporations and foundations have pledged hundreds of millions for child development, school readiness, parent engagement, literacy, and school discipline reform programs.

It seems as if the White House could be recruiting pop stars to play a larger role in outreach efforts. Earlier this month, rapper Kanye West tweeted that he and his wife, Kim Kardashian, had met President Obama in October.

That’s despite President Obama having repeatedly referred to West as a “jackass” — although the president also praised him as “smart” and “talented” in an interview with The Atlantic.