“As women, we’re looked at as the needy ones, the naggy ones, the ones who are going to be heartbroken in a relationship ... And you know, guys don’t like getting the cards flipped on them—ever.”
When Rihanna said those words in Vogue’s June issue, she was talking about her lingerie line, Savage x Fenty. But she may as well have been talking about her once friend and fling Drake, with whom she was often publicly and professionally linked, and who famously took his time at the mic at the 2016 VMAs to profess having been in love with the Bajan singer since he was 22.
Rihanna spoke about the awkwardness of that admission with Vogue, and it was ... telling:
Rihanna winces slightly at the mention of the rapper’s name before her eyes glaze over with cool indifference. ... “Waiting through that speech was probably the most uncomfortable part. I don’t like too many compliments; I don’t like to be put on blast.” When [the writer asks] about the current state of their friendship, her attitude is sanguine. “We don’t have a friendship now, but we’re not enemies either. It is what it is.”
But like Noah in The Notebook, it still isn’t over for Drake, who somehow found a way to once again bring up Rih in his much talked about episode of HBO’s The Shop, where he chopped it up with friends and hosts LeBron James and Maverick Carter, opening up about parenting outside of the picket fence fantasy.
“Of course, as life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don’t have the fairy tale,” he said. “Like, ‘Oh, Drake started a family with Rihanna, and like, this is like so perfect.’ ... It looks so good on paper. ... By the way, I wanted that too, at one time.”
Sure, that would’ve been super cute (if everyone were on board), but it’s been two years, and now Drake just sounds low-key obsessed. After all, he’s already gone several rounds with Rih, who dished to Vogue about her more recent Saudi Arabian billionaire boyfriend:
“I used to feel guilty about taking personal time, but I also think I never met someone who was worth it before.”
Yeah ... time to let that go. Besides, far more interesting are Drake’s revelations about Kanye, who purportedly lured him out to Wyoming under the guise of working on new music together (which Drake claims he did—for Kanye), and then flipped the script, “trolling” him with Pusha T and “The Story of Adidon.” It’s the first time we hear Drake’s full version of events, and given Ye’s recent antics, it sounds neither far-fetched nor terribly disappointing that Drake ultimately opted not to take the bait with a brutal rebuttal. In fact, it sounds mature.
Now, if only he could manage to keep Rihanna’s name out of his mouth.