Mother of Leukemia Victim Lashes Out at Rihanna

Last February, Rihanna publicized the effort to locate a bone marrow doner for 5-year-old New York City resident Jasmina Anema, who was fighting a losing battle with acute leukemia. The singer, who has been a longtime supporter of DKMS America -- the world's largest non-profit marrow donor center -- was vigilant in her efforts to locate a doner but it proved to be a difficult search and Jasmina sadly passed away at six years-old on Jan 27, 2010.

Now, Jasmina's mother, Thea Anema says that she is disappointed in Rihanna for not contacting her after the child's death. A post appeared on Thea's Twitter account this week which read, "It has been a month since Jasmina's passing. Still not even a card or text message from Rihanna. Did she use my child for a publicity stunt?" The post was quickly deleted as it began to appear on a number of blogs and spread like wildfire on Twitter.

Anema then followed up with another Tweet on Monday afternoon (Mar. 1) addressing her previous words. "Apparently there are some negative blogs out there. For the record, Rihanna has been nothing but really nice!!!" she wrote. Anema later contacted People Magazine, saying that she had not penned the controversial tweet. "Friends have helped me with all kinds of stuff and many know the passwords to my personal e-mail, the Caringbridge site and also Twitter," Anema said. "Although I did not tweet this particular one, I do wish that Rihanna had responded to me on Jasmina's passing. It would have meant the world to me." Anema told the magazine that she did not mean any harm, but she was simply unable to stifle her grief. "Jasmina adored her," she told People. "Rihanna was so kind to come and visit her. I just felt hurt not hearing anything from her. Or of any other celebrities for that matter. The only ones who reached out to me personally during this time of grief were the Obamas."

Although personal contact between Rihanna and Anema cannot be verified, Ri-Ri did make public acknowlegedment of Jasmina's passing during the recent Super Bowl festivities in Miami. The 21-year-old singer told the Associated Press that she would remember Jasmina fondly. "She was a very free, fun spirited little girl, full of energy, always happy, always energetic," Ri-Ri said. "I always remember she wouldn't sit still. She was always running around, always had a smile on her face."