Rihanna and Rocky in the wild

A$AP Rocky was nominated for a Gotham Award this year in the breakthrough actor category. Naturally, he arrived at the event with Rihanna, in a pink Balenciaga bubble dress by new creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli. Rihanna has worked with Pierpaolo before, from when he was at Valentino. This look isn’t for everyone but it’s definitely for me. That said, it’s better on video than it is in still photos. When you’re working with a dress that plays with proportions or even distorts proportion, it’s hard to appreciate it when it’s not moving. The standout for me, though, is that spectacular necklace and also the hat. It’s a baseball cap, but feathers – I love, I WANT!

You can see it up close in this interview with Extra during which RiRi talks about Rocky the actor. I say it every time she turns up on a red carpet, how much I appreciate that she gives time to the press. Not every outlet, but she will stop and talk instead of blowing past the line the entirely. 

@extra_tv

Rihanna says she’s “so proud” of A$AP Rocky’s acting, gushes that their three babies are “amazing.” ❤️ #rihanna #asaprocky @Rihanna

♬ original sound - ExtraTV

Here’s another video that’s going a bit viral – Rihanna is posing for solos and the reason it’s popping off isn’t because of her look, it’s because of Rocky’s look. The way he’s looking at her… 

@gala.fr

#rihanna #asaprocky #gothamfilmawards #OnRegardeQuoi #TikTokFilm

♬ Pour It Up - Rihanna

His eyes tracking her up and down, that little smile as he’s watching her – everyone’s clocking it in the comments on that post, reading it the same way. Someone wrote that “Rocky over there plotting another baby” and, yes, my interpretation is the same. 

The interpretations are more polarising though where another video is concerned, and to me this is TMZ just sh-t disturbing. They’ve described it as Rihanna being “snappy” at Rocky. 

@tmz

Rihanna wasn’t playing at the Gotham Awards 👀😭 New video shows her telling A$AP Rocky she’s leaving and he looks a little too caught up in the crowd to keep up. Full clip at the link in bio. 🔗

♬ original sound - TMZ - TMZ

I don’t see any snapping, all I see is a woman trying to get out of an event that already peaked but her man is that guy who has to stop to talk to everyone. If you have a friend like this, you know what that’s like. Me, I’m good with shutting down my face and keeping it moving but some of my closest friends have the most open faces that invite conversation, and it takes them forever to get out of anywhere. 

To me the takeaway here is how real Rihanna is when she’s out in the wild. She doesn’t consciously maintain neutrality for protection against social media. She’s not overly concerned about being filmed. There are randoms all over the place at this event, trying to have their moment. And she just goes about her business, unbothered and uncensored. Few celebrities at her level behave like this. Or, rather, they do behave, deliberately, whereas Rihanna is just Rihanna.