Just friends? A$AP Rocky and Rihanna don’t have a romantic relationship, despite being spotted together following the “Love on the Brain” singer’s split from former boyfriend Hassan Jameel.
“A$AP has always thought Rihanna was cool and gorgeous,” a source tells Us Weekly exclusively. “But they have way more of a best friend [or] cousin relationship.”
The insider adds: “They are very close friends, but nothing ever seems romantic between the two of them.”
The two musicians sparked relationship rumors after they were seen hanging out in New York City on Friday, January 17, just hours after Us broke the news that Rihanna had called it quits with Jameel after nearly three years of dating.
The Fenty beauty founder and the “Live Fast” rapper were photographed smiling and laughing while backstage at the Yams Day Benefit concert in Brooklyn before the “F—kin’ Problems” singer performed. Later in the day, Rihanna was spotted with her ex-boyfriend Drake, who was seen in the crowd with her at the event.
A source previously told Us that “Rihanna and A$AP Rocky spent New Year’s Eve together with a big group in a suite at the Edition Hotel” in New York City.
The friends were first romantically linked when they were discovered kissing offscreen while filming their music video for “Fashion Killa” in 2013, but were never officially dating.
The nine-time Grammy winner’s relationship with businessman Jameel, 31, lasted more than two years before the duo called it quits. The former couple were first spotted together in June 2017 and kept much of their relationship out of the public eye.
“Rihanna and Hassan understand each other very well and their personalities mesh well together,” a source told Us exclusively in September 2019. “They’re both so different, but it works for them.”
Despite saying that she was “of course” in love with Jameel, in a profile for Interview magazine in June 2019, the “Stay” artist admitted that she was unsure of the couple’s future.
“Only God knows that girl,” she told the publication when asked about getting married to Jameel someday. “We plan and God laughs, right?”
The Ocean’s 8 star previously dated Drake on and off from 2009 to 2016. She dated Chris Brown from 2008 to 2009. They broke up after the “With You” singer was arrested for physically assaulting Rihanna, but reunited briefly in 2012 before calling it quits again in 2013.