There may be an upsetting reason behind Rihanna’s sudden willingness to share her son’s face with the world.
On December 17, Rihanna not only shared her first TikTok post but the first-ever glimpse at her seven-month-old son with A$AP Rocky. In the sweet clip, their baby can be seen attempting to “hack” his mother’s phone while giggling at the screen.
That same day, the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show performer shared exclusive photos of her child with the entertainment site Hollywood Unlocked.
Unfortunately, Rihanna reportedly shared these photos in order to get ahead of the paparazzi, who were planning to take the choice out of her hands. “Yesterday, she FaceTimed me to tell me that paparazzi took unauthorised photos of their baby and planned to release them. So she said if anyone was going to put it out, she wanted me to,» Hollywood Unlocked CEO Jason Lee tweeted on December 17.
In a second tweet, he continued, “She wanted BLACK MEDIA to be the one to do it since she wasn’t going to be given the choice. First, I’m honoured they would trust me and kinda sad it had to be that way. I wish they were given the choice. Kids are off limits here at HU. I guess some folks don’t care. ”
Many celebrity parents have been fighting to protect their children from the paparazzi. Sophie Turner and Gigi Hadid have both asked the paparazzi to stop taking photos of their young kids. In July 2021, Blake Lively slammed Daily Mail Australia for sharing pics of her daughters that were taken by someone she says “stalked” her family for an entire day in NYC. A year later, Lively felt compelled to share a series of baby bump photos on Instagram to get rid of the paparazzi outside her home who were hoping to get a pic of the pregnant celeb.
For Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, privacy has reportedly become a top priority since welcoming their first child in May. “They’re keeping things low-key so they can enjoy their little family,” a source told Entertainment Tonight in August. “Privacy has become increasingly important to the couple. When it was just the two of them, they’d go out all hours of the day and night and interact with fans. Now, with the baby, they’re a little more protective. ”
The pair have yet to share their son’s name with their fans. “We just didn’t get around to it yet really,” she told The Washington Post, per Hypebae. “We’ve just been living. But I guess there’s a certain freedom that comes with kind of just, like, getting it out there. ”
Hopefully, she’ll be able to do that on her own terms.
