After weeks of speculation, Rihanna confirmed she is expecting her third child the best way she knows how – via a show-stopping, viral moment on the evening of the Met Gala. Because if anyone knows how to turn back pain and bladder discomfort into high fashion, it's her.
The singer already has two sons with her partner-of-four years, A$AP Rocky, who is one of this year's Met Gala co-chairs. The couple welcomed their first child, RZA, in May 2022, and their second, Riot, in August 2023. The gender and due date of their third child is not yet known.
While the Vogue-approved announcement will no doubt be a special one for the couple given A$AP Rocky's role in the event, Rihanna is well-versed in making bold fashion statements with her bumps. News of her first pregnancy first broke when she was photographed in Harlem wearing jeans and a hot pink coat – naturally, the coat was undone from the waist down and she was not wearing a top underneath. Social media was duly sent into overdrive.
To amp things up further, Rihanna announced her second pregnancy during her half time performance at the Super Bowl. She wore an unzipped red jumpsuit with a red leotard underneath that revealed her baby bump.
And now, of course, Rihanna has seized the opportunity of the biggest night in fashion to showcase baby number three. Wearing a fitted blue satin top, skirt and heel set with a bucket hat, the singer staged an photoshoot in the New York traffic with her long term collaborator Diggzy.
A$AP Rocky confirmed the news in an interview with AP journalists on the red carpet, saying: 'It's time to show the people that we was cooking up. I'm glad everybody's happy for us because we're definitely happy, you know!'
The musician added that it was 'amazing' and 'a blessing' that everyone is around to celebrate the news on the red carpet. 'We've been seeing love for the most part, you know, and we're real receptive to that and appreciate that,' he added. 'That's love. Love is love.'
The news comes just two months after A$AP Rocky was found not guilty on two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in a Los Angeles courtroom. When he heard the judge's verdict, he leapt from his seat into Rihanna's arms in relief – a moment that seems all the more poignant with the added context that they were expecting another baby.
Congratulations to Rihanna and A$AP Rocky!
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).