Rihanna’s Motivation for Finally Sharing Her Son’s Face Was Strictly Business
Superstar Rihanna has been a mom for almost a year now. The 34-year-old is very guarded when it comes to her child’s privacy and only shared a few glimpses of him until her recent British Vogue cover. Rihanna also revealed that her first time showing her son to the public was a business decision. Here’s how it unfolded:
Rihanna gave birth to her son in May 2022
As reported by People, on May 13, 2022, Rihanna gave birth to a baby boy. The boy’s father is Rihanna’s boyfriend, rapper A$AP Rocky. “Rihanna is doing well,” a source said at the time. “They are very excited to be parents. Rihanna is already a wonderful mom.”
Rihanna and Rocky have not revealed their son’s name yet, but she has shared they are enjoying their time as parents.
“We’re best friends with a baby,” she told British Vogue in its March 2023 issue. “We have to be on the same page, but we’ve always kind of had that in our relationship. Everything changes when you have a baby but I wouldn’t say it’s done anything but made us closer.”
Why Rihanna decided to finally share her son’s face
Rihanna has mostly tried to keep her son under the radar. However, the Barbadian singer has given the public some glimpses of him. Most notably, in December 2021, she shared a short clip of him on TikTok that ended up getting over 30 million views.
In her interview with British Vogue, Rihanna’s decision for sharing her son’s face on TikTok came to light. During the family’s photoshoot on a beach with the magazine, her security team spotted a paparazzi trying to take pictures of her son, which made Rihanna upset.
“We get to decide as parents when and how we [introduce him to the public]. End of story,” Rihanna said. “Throw me to the wolves. Do what you want with me. But he doesn’t have a say in any of this. We’ve been protecting him thus far and you don’t have any consent to be posting photos or selling photos of my child, a minor. Get the hell out of here with that.”
She added, “I just went straight into protective mode. Like there wasn’t even time for rage. [Rocky and me] drove up to the trailer area and we sat in the car chatting and working out how we move forward. As parents it just feels so icky, like a violation.”
As a result of this incident, Rihanna took to TikTok in hopes of taking back some control of her son’s image and devaluing the paparazzi pictures. She beat the intruder in his own game, quickly posting about her son on social media.
Rihanna announced her second pregnancy at the Super Bowl
Rihanna recently performed at the Super Bowl LVII halftime show. The performance was not only Rihanna’s first time back on stage after several years, but it was also an announcement of her second pregnancy.
Rihanna and her team managed to keep the news of her pregnancy well under wrap before the big event. Even her backup dancers had no idea she was expecting. “I don’t think anybody really knew she was pregnant,” dancer Luhnyae Hayes told Entertainment Tonight. “She hid it very well.”
For the most part, the dancers rehearsed separately from Rihanna. Whenever they saw her, she would be wearing oversized Fenty sweatsuits. Because the weather was cold, this did not seem out of place. Hayes recalled, “We were all confused watching it during the real thing when she went up there and was showing her stomach. She wore the same outfit for one of the dress rehearsals but it was zippered up.”
