Naomi Campbell is putting rumors of a feud with Rihanna to rest.
The supermodel, 54, addressed speculation about her relationship with the pop star, 36, after the duo didn’t interact in a viral video from New York Fashion Week. “I’m not about to let the world pitch two Black women against each other,” Campbell told The New York Times in a recent interview. “We are two women with two children, mothers.”
Rumors of bad blood between the two women circulated after they both attended the Alaïa show in New York City on September 6. As Rihanna arrived at the presentation and took her seat, she walked past Campbell and stylist Law Roach, seemingly without acknowledging them.
Speculation only intensified after Campbell and Roach, 46, shared a video parodying Jools Lebron’s “very demure” TikTok video. “We don’t go to the shows like the other girls,” Roach said in the clip. “We don’t come with our ta-tas out or our chi-chis out. Very demure.”
Roach then pointed to Campbell, who chimed in to add, “Very mindful.”
While the video was posted on September 14, fans were quick to note that the duo were wearing the same outfits they wore to the Aläia show days earlier, leading some internet sleuths to theorize that they filmed the video after Rihanna walked by them without saying hello. (Rihanna also wore a dress to that show that put her décolletage on full display.)
Roach has not directly addressed the controversy, but he recently spoke out about how social media can be “a piece of s—” sometimes.
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“For stylists, social media became our portfolios years ago. To be honest, maybe 60 percent of my clients came from social media and interactions on social media,” he explained during a conversation at Revolt World last month. “Also, it makes the world smaller, right? You can have a conversation with a designer in Mumbai or Japan in a split second. So, it’s super beneficial.”
The benefits, however, come with a side of risk.
“It’s a double-edged sword because I came, in a way, before the influence,” he said, noting that social media can so easily be taken out of context. “Like, I worked really hard, and then you see people get these amazing opportunities because they just consistently do the same thing over and over again. But you also want to be happy for them because that, too, is a job. So, for me, I’m torn with that.”
