Rihanna was seen looking notably stern in Los Angeles after her partner, A$AP Rocky, sparked backlash with an onstage comment that had some fans urging her to walk away.
Rocky, 37, was performing in Phoenix, Arizona, as part of his Don’t Be Dumb Tour when a remark he made from the stage quickly ignited controversy.
Speaking to the women in the audience, he said: ‘Thank God y’all didn’t know me when I was single, ’cause I would’ve f***ed the s*** out of you.’
While concertgoers at the venue reacted with cheers and excitement, the comment drew sharp criticism online because of his relationship with Rihanna, with whom he shares three children.
‘Rihanna if you don’t leave this man lol, he’s constantly disrespecting her,’ one X user wrote, echoing a wave of angry responses across the platform.
As the online uproar intensified, Rihanna, 38, was photographed sitting in the passenger seat of a car, her expression unreadable behind a large pair of sunglasses.
Rihanna was seen looking stern in Los Angeles after her boyfriend A$AP Rocky made an onstage remark that prompted fans to urge her to leave him
As criticism mounted, Rihanna, 38, was seen in the passenger seat of a car, with oversized sunglasses partly covering her impassive expression
Although Rihanna has accompanied Rocky to previous stops on his Don’t Be Dumb Tour, she was absent from the Phoenix show that went viral.
Videos of Rocky’s sex confession circulated online, eliciting livid comments such as: ‘So many things could’ve been said instead, but he chooses the most stupid disrespectful thing to his audience and his partner.’
‘For a person with three children and supposedly in a serious relationship, this is not cool to say. Its almost cringe,’ another fulminated.
‘Rihanna this your baby daddy? He is so weird for this objectification ew,’ wrote a third as a fourth grumbled: ‘Disrespectful to Rihanna, disrespectful to women, someone remind me why this guy is still relevant.’
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Rocky also enjoyed a chorus of social media defenders who argued that his critics were overreacting to what was obviously a joke.
He and Rihanna have been together since 2020 and share three children, sons RZA, four, and Riot, two, and daughter Rocki, nine months.
They have been at the center of a swirl of marriage speculation this past year, fueled by her referring to him as her ‘loving husband’ and him describing her as his ‘wife.’
The family were subjected a terrifying ordeal this March when a shooting by a woman armed with an AR-15 unfolded at their Beverly Hills home.
Rocky, 37, was appearing in concert in Phoenix, Arizona for a stop on his Don’t Be Dumb Tour when he uttered a comment that attracted instant controversy; pictured 2022
Although the live audience responded with whoops and cheers, he was lambasted online in view of his relationship with Rihanna, whom he is pictured with at the Met Gala last month
Rihanna, Rocky and the children were all on the property when the shooting took place, as were the Umbrella singer’s mother and staff, according to prosecutors.
The suspect, Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, has pled not guilty to a raft of charges including attempted murder and could face life in prison if convicted.
‘It was f***ed up…somebody attempted at [harming] me and my family,’ Rocky said earlier this month in a wide-ranging interview with Vibe.
‘It took away a lot of peace and happiness of being able to just be free,’ he added. ‘I don’t want to be robbed of my peace and joy.’
The incident occurred a year after Rocky himself was acquitted of two counts of felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having been accused of repeatedly shooting at his teenage friend and onetime bandmate A$AP Relli.
