Rihanna accused of mocking Beyoncé's Formation single as Work tops Billboard Hot 100

Beyonce and Rihanna — Rihanna is alleged to have mocked the chart performance of Beyoncé's single Formation Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Rihanna has allegedly thrown shade at her pop rival Beyoncé, sending the Beyhive into defence mode. According to reports, Rihanna liked a post on Twitter that praised the Billboard chart position of one of Rihanna's new songs, while ridiculing the performance of Beyonce's new single Formation.

One eagle-eyed Rihanna fan claims to have grabbed a screenshot of the Twitter post, which made reference to Desperado, a track featuring on her latest studio album Anti. The tweet read: "The fact that 'Desperado' is HIGHER on the Bubbling Under chart than a single performed to a global audience." Rihanna is said to have unliked the tweet but fans of Beyoncé were unimpressed with her reported co-sign and began bombarding her with uncomplimentary messages.

One wrote: "After cancelling tour dates, reducing tickets to $10 and selling less than 250k albums WW the LEAST Rihanna can get is a #1 single." While another chimed in: "I don't know why Rihanna liked that shade when ANTI has yet to surpass BEYONCÉ's first 3 day sales." One other commented: "The real tragedy is that Rihanna thinks of Beyoncé as a threat and Beyoncé... Well Beyoncé doesn't think of Rihanna."

Rihanna liked then unlinked this tweet today, throwing shade at 'Formation' by BeyoncÃ© ðŸ‘€ pic.twitter.com/RAa2n6Bvzl
— Music's Rebellion (@MusicsRebellion) March 1, 2016

Formation, which premiered with a music video on 6 February, has not appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as it was not released for purchase or download. The track is currently streaming exclusively on Jay Z's music service Tidal and the music video is also available on Beyoncé's official website.

Rihanna is celebrating the success of her latest single Work, which features Young Money rapper Drake, as the song is enjoying its second week at the top of the Hot 100. Reacting to her triumph, Rihanna tweeted: "#WORK is sittin pretty at #1 for a second week in a row on #BBHot100!!! Big ups to God and my fans!!!"

The Diamonds singer will be heading out on the Anti world tour from 12 March after it was delayed from its original launch date in February. Rihanna, 27, has also had to cancel several dates on the stadium tour with rumours of poor ticket sales, while it has been revealed that Beyoncé, 34, has already grossed $100m in ticket sales for her trek, which is due to begin in April.