Rihanna’s pregnancy announcement was tongue-in-cheek perfection

Like many celebrities, Rihanna was the subject of unfounded pregnancy rumors for years — which makes the method of her reveal even more deliciously enjoyable

I wasn’t surprised when Rihanna nailed her pregnancy announcement. She tends to excel at, well, practically everything she undertakes. Music? She’s one of the most successful musical artists of all time, up there with Madonna and Led Zeppelin, having sold 250 million records around the world. (And that’s not even mentioning her nine Grammys, 13 American Music Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, and six Guinness world records, including one for being the female artist with the most US number-one singles in a year back in 2010 — I mean really, the list goes on.) Makeup? You don’t need me to retrace the meteoric rise of Fenty Beauty, a celebrated staple in the cosmetics industry after just four years of existence. Savage X Fenty, her lingerie business, has been thriving since 2018. She’s even acted in films (her credits include the 2018 Ocean’s 8) and as an ambassador for the country of Barbados. What more could she do right?

So, no, I wasn’t surprised when Rihanna offered us a masterclass in that most modern of genres, the celebrity pregnancy announcement.

Rihanna chose to announce that she was expecting her first child over the weekend, by simply stepping outside. Except of course she didn’t just step outside – she stepped outside in an eye-catching pink winter coat, which she kept open to reveal her bare pregnancy bump overlaid by a large, jeweled cross necklace. The feat is made all the more impressive by the fact that New York, where Rihanna was at the time, had just been hit by a severe winter cyclone that left the city blanketed in snow. The temperatures were far from balmy. By her side was her partner A$AP Rocky, whom she is believed to have been dating since November 2020.

The celebrity pregnancy announcement is a rich genre. Throughout Hollywood history, A-listers have revealed pregnancies in person, on social media, in magazines, in press interviews, via introspective essays, and on their personal websites (though that was more of a 2000s thing). In 2006, Angelina Jolie announced she was expecting her first biological child with Brad Pitt by telling a charity aid worker: “Yes, I’m pregnant” – a statement later confirmed by People magazine. And in completely different style, Mindy Kaling is a known expert at concealing a pregnancy (and indeed a child) until she’s ready to discuss it publicly.

Rihanna’s pregnancy announcement picks up where her celebrity peers left off. It’s traditional in only one way, in that it relies on a bump photo – understandably a favorite medium in the pregnancy reveal genre, though some prefer to use sonogram images. It’s staged at just the right amount – Rihanna and A$AP Rocky both look fantastic, but they’re just walking down a regular street in New York. It’s a paparazzi-style shot, because of course it is – they’re Rihanna and A$AP Rocky. (Note: this particular set of pictures was taken by photographer Miles Diggs, a.k.a Diggzy, whom Vogue once deemed “fashion’s favorite paparazzi”.) It’s the perfect mix of controlled aesthetics and casual cool. It’s sure to be the beginning of a trend, too, and we can expect people to emulate it in the same way Emily Ratajkowski recreated Demi Moore’s iconic 1991 Vanity Fair pregnancy shoot for Halloween in 2020.

The photos lend themselves to deeper analysis, too. New York Times fashion director and chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman wrote of the big reveal: “Unlike the Moore tradition, which often involved being as naked as possible, or [Beyoncé’s 2017 photo revealing she was pregnant with twins], which dipped into art history, Rihanna chose a look and composition that seems like a sly nod to fashion itself – specifically, Anna Wintour’s first Vogue cover, in 1988, which featured the Israeli model Michaela Bercu wearing old Guess jeans and a Christian Lacroix jacket with an elaborately jeweled cross on the front, her hair windblown and wavy, laughing on the street.”

Like many celebrities, Rihanna was the subject of unfounded pregnancy rumors for years – whenever she wore tight clothes or loose clothes or was photographed from a particular angle or generally did anything. This makes the coolness of her reveal even more enjoyable – oh, this news? The news that is certain to send fans and detractors alike into a long-awaited tailspin? No big deal. Except it kind of is. But not really. It’s deliciously casual in the most tongue-in-cheek manner, and it’s absolutely perfect.

Congratulations, then, to Rihanna, and thank you – for everything, really, but in this case, for reviving a tenet of celebrity culture that was overdue for an update.