Last night at Rihanna’s Diamond Ball, instead of folks focusing on the very fact why everyone was there—to raise money for the Clara Lionel Foundation’s global education, health, and emergency response programs—they were on the Beyonce’s Internet worrying about the singer’s womb.
See, this video below went viral and got everyone on Twitter believing that the Fenty creator was giving us a full-on baby bump in this black form-fitting Givenchy haute couture gown.
Soon after, folks got #RihannaIsPregnant trending, mad they are not the designer’s child or delusional in thinking they ever had a chance with her or believing that she owes us an album and can’t live her life. The audacity!
And of course, men always showing how much they hate Black girl joy:
While Rihanna hasn’t confirmed or denied the news, on Friday morning TMZ squashed the rumors claiming a “sources with direct knowledge” told them, “Sorry, she’s not pregnant.”
But all this hoopla really shines a light on how much we scrutinize women, especially Black women in the spotlight, for even the slightest weight gain. The minute they eat a burrito, get bloated or pack on some pounds, folks are very quick to be on baby bump watch.
We can’t imagine spending so much of your life as a performer adhering to super-strict diets and constant workout plans to fit into a certain body type in order to succeed in a body-obsessed industry to finally get to your 30s and say, “I’ma just live,” and resist all that pressure, only to have your “imperfections” amplified for the world to see and talk about.
We’ve seen this with Beyonce, especially this year, and now it’s Rihanna’s turn, and honestly, it’s too much.
So while some of y’all wanna keep speculating on whether she’s with child or not, thankfully, there were folks on Twitter with common sense that want y’all to stop being so fixated on RiRi’s stomach and worry about your own.
Here’s what they had to say: