Dear Gossips,

Rihanna has been making headlines here in Canada the last couple of days. A$AP Rocky performed in Montreal on June 1st. RiRi was on a flight from Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport to Montreal to see the show. For those who aren’t from Toronto – Billy Bishop is the city airport, it’s located minutes from downtown Toronto (or two hours, depending on the f-ckass traffic), mostly for short flights. There are no jets that take off from Billy Bishop. The planes are small, the seats are tight, and there is no business class.

Clearly this was the most convenient way for Rihanna to travel that day – and obviously the PJ was either unavailable or unnecessary for what she was doing. You can fly directly from Newark into Billy Bishop, which takes just over an hour, and then literally walk onto the next plane in less than ten minutes, if you time it right, for Montreal.

The reason why she’s going viral, however, is for her interaction with flight attendant Lily Kahnerahtiio Dailleboust. Lily did her job on the flight and then discreetly asked RiRi’s bodyguard if she could give her a gift. This is what happened next:

Lily gave RiRi a beaded lanyard made by Tekaronhiahkhwa Standup who owns Traditions Art Shop & Studio in Kahnawake, Québec. She was sharing her culture with one of the biggest superstars on the planet who was clearly thrilled to learn about it.

And, obviously, understands how to use her platform to amplify Lily’s generosity and Tekaronhiahkhwa Standup’s talent. Here in Canada it is the 30th anniversary of National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21st. Please click here to see a list of events happening across the country that weekend.

As for Rihanna, Maria yesterday mentioned in her Celebrity Social Media column that she covers the new issue of 72, Edward Enninful’s quarterly produced through his media company EE72, named after his initials and the year he was born. Maria noted that she was probably clowning – but so are a lot of other people in the comments.

It’s the magazine title but it’s also 7+2=9. And we’ve been waiting over a decade for R9, aka Rihanna’s ninth album. Are we clowning?

Because just this past weekend, Rihanna went to the Governors Ball Music Festival aka Gov Ball in NYC in a Conner Ives Peyton Manning Jersey… #18. As in 1+8=9. Coincidence or conspiracy?

If this were Taylor Swift, it would definitely be a conspiracy. But I don’t know that Rihanna would bother leaving easter eggs all over the place.

Yours in gossip,

Lainey

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky out in NYC, June 7, 2026

Photo credits: @markredstudios/osiahW/Backgrid

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