Rihanna recently shared photos of her nine-month-old son on Instagram and referred to him as "so fine." Some fans criticized her word choice, saying it was more appropriate for an adult man. Rihanna clapped back at the trolls in the comments, saying "His mother!!!" and jokingly telling them to keep their "lil cougar paws away" from her baby. Rihanna shares her son with partner A$AP Rocky. During her Super Bowl performance, she announced they are expecting their second child.
Though just a short social media exchange, it shows Rihanna's fierceness as a mother in defending her child. Her lighthearted but firm response to the criticism exhibits her confidence and humor.
As a self-made billionaire and pop culture icon, Rihanna is no stranger to unwanted opinions on her personal life and choices. However, when it comes to her growing family, she makes it clear that she will stand up for them. The excitement around her pregnancy announcement demonstrates how closely her fans follow her journey through motherhood as well as her successful career.
fired back at trolls after they criticized her for calling her baby son 'so fine' while sharing photos from their shoot to Instagram this week.
Some found the descriptor to be more fitting for a 'grown man' instead of a nine-month-old, with one fan asking: 'Who calls a baby fine?'
To which the Umbrella singer, according to , replied: 'His mother!!!'
She jokingly added in a follow-up comment: 'You just keep your lil cougar paws away from him and we good!'
The hitmaker, 35, shares her baby boy with partner A$AP Rocky and revealed during her Super Bowl halftime show that they're .
Firing back: Rihanna fired back at trolls after they criticized her for calling her baby son 'so fine' while sharing photos from their British Vogue shoot to Instagram this week
The parents have yet to reveal their firstborn's name to the public.
The happy trio are featured on the cover of the March 2023 issue of British Vogue, where Rihanna opened up about her relationship with the rapper, 35, and how their son changed her world.
Rihanna referred to Rocky as her 'best friend' and described motherhood as 'everything' as she admitted she can't remember what her life was like before having her son in May 2022.
'It's everything, you really don't remember life before, that's the craziest thing ever,' she told the magazine.
Rihanna said her first few months as a mother were a rollercoaster and described giving birth as a 'head-f**k', saying she couldn't believe she entered the hospital pregnant and left with a baby.
Rihanna admitted that having a child has also made her reevaluate as she described raising her son as one of the 'scariest' responsibilities ever in her life.
She said: 'Raising a young Black man is one of the scariest responsibilities in life [...] 'You're like, 'What am I leaving my kids to? This is the planet they're gonna be living on?'
Despite the challenges of motherhood, Rihanna insisted it has only brought her and her partner Rocky closer as she said they are 'best friends with a baby'.
'Everything changes when you have a baby but I wouldn't say it's done anything but made us closer,' she added.
While promoting the cover story, Rihanna revealed that she had no idea she was already pregnant with their second child during the magazine shoot.
'How crazy both of my babies were in these photos and mommy had no clue,' she shared to Instagram on Wednesday.
Rihanna made the big pregnancy reveal last Sunday during her epic Super Bowl halftime show, which was the second most-watched halftime show in history behind Katy Perry's 2015 performance.
Rihanna went to extreme measures to keep her pregnancy hidden, which included keeping the news from her 280 backup dancers.
'I don't think anybody really knew she was pregnant,' dancer Laila Hayes told ET.
Some found the descriptor to be more fitting for a 'grown man' instead of a nine-month-old, with one fan asking: 'Who calls a baby fine?'
To which the Umbrella singer replied: 'His mother!!!'; Rihanna seen on February 9
Big reveal: The hitmaker, 35, shares her baby boy with partner A$AP Rocky and revealed during her Super Bowl halftime show that they're expecting their second child; seen Sunday
Rihanna only started rehearsing with the dancers the week of the show and she was purposely kept at a distance from them.
The Grammy Award-winner welcomed her first child, a son, with rapper A$AP Rocky in May, just nine months before she'd perform on the world's biggest stage. The baby's name has yet to be revealed.
'[Rihanna] was rehearsing onstage, they made sure that they had her safe in the middle of the stage and then the group that I was in would stay on the sidelines,' Hayes recalled.
The dancers had already endured weeks of rehearsal after being selected for the once in a lifetime gig in early January.
Choreographer Parris Goebel often stood in for Rihanna as they worked through the routines as a group. Rihanna spent a lot of time practicing independently.
During her Super Bowl performance, Rihanna paraded around in an oversized red jacket over a baggy jumpsuit that she later unzipped to reveal her growing bump.
A representative for the singer confirmed the news shortly after the show.
Hayes admitted that she was totally taken by surprise because Rihanna had kept the jacket zipped up in rehearsal.
Secret: Rihanna went to extreme measures to keep her pregnancy hidden, which included keeping the news from her 280 backup dancers
'I don't think anybody really knew she was pregnant,' dancer Laila Hayes told ET. 'She hid it very well'
'We were all confused watching it during the real thing when she went up there and was showing her stomach,' she explained. 'She wore the same outfit for one of the dress rehearsals but it was zippered up.'
But Hayes' co-interviewee Luhnyae Campbell insists that she 'never saw a bump' while on stage and actually had to 'rewatch the performance on YouTube to realize.
Though there was a big secret to protect, that didn't stop Rihanna from showing her gratitude to all those involved in bringing her vision to life.
Just before they headed out onto the field, Hayes said that Rihanna 'thanked all the dancers, the production company, the directors.'
Campbell added: 'She was such a light. You could see it in her face, how much she was genuinely enjoying the production and the performance of all the dancers.'
TMZ originally reported that no-one involved with the production had any idea she was pregnant and that she'd purposely worn baggy clothing during rehearsals.
The Umbrella hitmaker also wore loose-fitting outfits during final rehearsals on Saturday and Sunday, keeping her final costume under wraps until the show began.
Although the star kept her pregnancy news a secret until her reveal on stage, she did drop some hints before the show.
Closer than ever: Speaking to British Vogue, Rihanna gushed that she and her partner A$AP Rocky are 'best friends with a baby'; the pair seen in January
Speaking to CBS Sports about whether she would have any special guests performing with her, the singer said she was: 'thinking about bringing someone' - but added: 'I'm not sure, we'll see.'
In a chat with Apple Music, she said: 'When you become a mom there's something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world.
'The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as [it is] because I haven't been on stage in seven years, there's something exhilarating about the challenge of it all.
'And it's important for me to do this this year. It's important for representation. It's important for my son to see that.'
The Diamonds hitmaker apparently previously turned down opportunities to perform at the Super Bowl on several occasions before finally taking to the stage this year.
In 2018, it was reported that she had turned down the show in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick and because she disagreed with the handling of national anthem kneeling.
