Rihanna insists she has ''never even met'' Matt Barnes.

The 27-year-old singer has been left outraged by the basketball player after he hinted they had a blossoming romance that had already ''passed the crush stage''.

Posting a screengrab of Matt's interview with TMZ, Rihanna wrote on Instagram: ''#bishwhere #thedevilisaliar #shesnotthatintoyou #shesnotintoyouatall #shesneverevenmetyou #thisactuallyhurtmyfeelings #defamationofcharacter (sic)''

Matt, 35, spoke out at the weekend and claimed he felt he had a future with the 'Diamonds' hitmaker.

He said: ''Rihanna's my friend right now, so we'll see where it goes.''

Further pressed if he thinks they have a future, he added: ''Yeah, possibly.''

It looks as though Matt is quite smitten with the 'FourFiveSeconds' hitmaker as he admitted their brewing relationship has ''passed the crush stage''.

He said: ''It's passed the crush stage a little bit ... just a little bit.''

Meanwhile, Rihanna has recently been romantically linked with Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton, with whom she was just seen partying in New York on Friday night (14.08.15).

The pop star got cosy with the 30-year-old sportsman at the annual Crop Over carnival in Barbados recently, and the pair spent some quality time together.

A source said at the time: ''Rihanna and Lewis had a nice little getaway last weekend in Barbados.

''Rihanna also spent time with her friends and family but Lewis was the only romantic interest on her mind.''

''She is taking it very slow and just having fun, but she likes who he is and what he is about. There's no label on them just yet.''