Rihanna and A$AP Rocky announced this morning that they are expecting their first child together. In the most throwback and modern way possible – the pap set-up shot! You can see the photos at Page Six.
Nothing about this is accidental, obviously. She is styled for the confirmation with that coat one-buttoned to strategically expose her bump and the accessories adorning her stomach and her waist, hair and makeup on point. And of course since she’s wearing pink, the speculation already is that she’s having a girl.
But let’s go back to HOW she’s telling us because, well, this is old school and new Rihanna school. Twenty years ago, celebrities showed up with their baby bumps on the cover of a magazine. These days it’s all about social media, a controlled reveal. Beyoncé of course is the most famous example, when she told the world that she was expecting twins and then everyone else seemed to follow with flower walls and side poses. That trend is super done now… so… Rihanna went in an entirely different direction.
She wanted pap style photos. So she called a paparazzo. She and Rocky went on a pap walk. It’s control and no control, because yes, the pap walk was arranged, it’s not like the pap just showed up in Harlem and stumbled upon RiRi wither hair and makeup done, strolling around in that outfit. But also she’s not hosting her pregnancy announcement on her own social media channels.
Still, it wasn’t just any pap – it’s Miles Diggs. Miles Diggs is for a sure a paparazzo, but his own kind of paparazzo. And he’s been popular among celebrities for a while. Vogue profiled Miles last summer; he got his start as an autograph seeker and then started taking pictures and building a relationship with the stars. He’s been shooting Rihanna for years.
And now she’s given him the most lucrative photos of his career.
Not only that, she’s just flipped the celebrity pregnancy announcement trend. She’s made the pap walk pregnancy announcement the trend again. The coolest, as ever.
