The pop diva’s rep confirmed what we were all wondering throughout her blazing performance at Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show. But we were, strangely, rather polite about it.
From the moment the lights came on during the Super Bowl halftime performance and she grazed a hand down her belly suggestively, Rihanna teased the answer to a burning question we didn’t know we had until that moment: Was she or wasn’t she?
As the superstar sang and danced through a dozen of her top hits, she managed to communicate both that yes, she was pregnant, and no, we had no right to ask. Skintight red fabric across her torso, accentuated by a belt just below her stomach, confirmed our suspicions ― while a shape-shifting red coat with a long train suggested that at any moment she might wrap herself up and float away on the cloud she came in on — that she owed us no explanation for her body, her choices.
In a country so obsessed with gazing at famous female abdomens that tabloid magazines have sold issues with features like “Bump Watch,” we’re all too eager to win the game of knowing before an official announcement is made, of having rights to punch the air and shout, “I knew it!”
Maybe it’s her 14 Billboard No. 1 hits, her re-writing of the rules of pregnancy fashion or her having built a billion dollar business, but when it came to this particular baby bump, folks seemed reluctant to jump to conclusions while she was still singing, showing both reverence and respect for the pop icon (her publicist confirmed the pregnancy shortly after the performance).
Here are some of the thoughts people were expressing on Twitter during the performance.
Well I know one thing, if she’s not pregnant y’all all just called her fat. Normalize waiting until that person announces their pregnancy 🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️ #SuperBowl #RihannaSuperBowl #Rihanna #SBLVII
— Tiani Nichelle (@TianiNichelle) February 13, 2023
The fact that people feel like they can comment on @rihanna’s body without her confirming pregnancy is major 🚩. Leave her be, people! Maybe she’s just a mom who’s 10 months postpartum!
— Angela Scott Lee (@angelascottlee) February 13, 2023
Rihanna: (does a pregnancy reveal on national television)
Y’all: we do not know if she’s pregnant and that’s not our business to speculate
— Kyla Jenée Lacey (@Kyla_Lacey) February 13, 2023
Is Rhianna pregnant, or normalizing postpartum bodies? I love it either way I’m just dying to know what I’m celebrating
— Cas🌻 (@Cassi0piea) February 13, 2023
I really do hope Rihanna is pregnant because God forbid a woman who birthed a whole other human LESS THAN A YEAR AGO is taking her OWN sweet time to “SnapBack”. These other celebrities got you thinking that it takes a couple months post birth. #RihannaSuperBowl
— Zeze Millz (@ZezeMillz) February 13, 2023
maybe we shouldn’t publicly speculate on whether rihanna is pregnant considering she just gave birth to her son 9 months ago and it’s perfectly normal for our bodies not to completely bounce back in such a short period of time so let’s normalize that 👍🏼
— Simone (@girlpowertbh) February 13, 2023
On #Rihanna again, why is there comments on her body. Don't assume pregnancy unless it's explicitly announced, and just don't comment on what a body looks like to begin with? She fuckin slayed, what she looks like is irrelevant
— ali rabbits (@AlmG) February 13, 2023
I hate to speculate about Rihanna cause I still look pregnant and my kid is 3.5 😩🫠
— sparx (@fvcksparkle) February 13, 2023
I really don’t like the whole discourse of the possibility of Rihanna being pregnant again because what if she’s not? What if she’s still trying to get comfortable in her body? What if she’s experiencing PPD? like don’t comment on her body just enjoy the performance.
— Ms. Exclusive ✨ (@LiciaEllena) February 13, 2023
yes, rihanna is pregnant, but the fact that some ppl were so focused on that, in my opinion, shows that ppl were expecting rihanna to “snap back” to the body she had before pregnancy. now what if she wasn’t pregnant and had just gained weight? what would y’all be saying then?
— xoxo, demi. (@itsdemidarlingg) February 13, 2023
I’d say Rihanna performing at the halftime show last night was the most patriotic thing about the game. I mean, name something more American than expecting a woman to work through her pregnancy?
— That Car Girl (@ThatCarGirl) February 13, 2023
May Rihanna remind moms everywhere that we don't have to "do it all." No guests, no dizzying choreo, and no wardrobe changes and it was still enough. I want all moms to access that enoughness on a daily basis in interactions and venues big and small. Enough *is* enough.
— Raena Boston (@workingmomtras) February 13, 2023
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