by NEW YORK — When it comes to becoming a mom, Rihanna mused ahead of her epic Super Bowl halftime show, “There’s just something that happens that makes you feel like you can take on the world — you can do anything.”
And she did on Sunday on one of the biggest stages in the world. Live. Just about nine months after giving birth to her first child, a boy (whose name has not yet been released), with A$AP Rocky.
As haters and stans debate Rihanna’s performance, with some of the former ruining the show altogether, she joins a contingent of famous women to capture a cultural moment with a pregnancy reveal.
And she did it while levitating on a platform in a fire engine red jumpsuit that was strategically pulled down to reveal her sizable bump. Underneath was a matching bodysuit with a leather breastplate tied to it.
She wore three vintage diamond brooches in a pair of low-top sneakers. And halfway through, she did it in a giant red puffer coat and matching gloves.
She shone like a diamond for her navy.
Rihanna didn’t open up about the pregnancy ahead of the Super Bowl. Instead, she focused on the decision to spend time away from her son for the first time and how difficult it was. If she left her baby to perform, she said, she would do it for something big.
That alone turned the pre-Super Bowl discourse on working moms without her even mentioning that she was having another child.
Rihanna fans didn’t mind when it came to criticism of her performance.
“What I don’t want to hear, and definitely not from ANY MAN, is that Rihanna didn’t do enough during her #Superbowl performance. You catch a cold and think you’ve got bubonic plague. This woman is pregnant, performing and dancing in the air for 13 minutes,” tweeted writer Luvvie Ajayi Jones.
Actress and author Danielle Pinnock tweeted: “My girl was pregnant and you guys are still not happy with the performance?! The internet is wild. Pregnant and probably swollen AF, Rihanna gave us choreography made in heaven, dancers who look like the Michelin men hit HIT while pregnant! Go, AWF, sis!”
To be clear, women all over the world have been working during pregnancy since the dawn of time. As social media sorts out their feelings on Rihanna’s show, here’s a quick look back at a few other pregnancy revelations that took place while the moms-to-be were essentially at work.
KEKE PALMER
Palmer did it during her opening monologue on Dec. 3 while hosting “Saturday Night Live.” She went straight into the baby store.
“There are some rumors going around, people have been saying in my comments, ‘Keke is having a baby, Keke is pregnant,'” she said. “And I want to set the record straight – I am!”
Palmer unbuttoned her long, baggy brown coat and pushed her pants down slightly to proudly reveal her bared midsection under a matching crop top.
She is currently expecting her first child with boyfriend Darius Jackson.
BEYONCE
According to Vogue, Palmer’s style move was “not dissimilar” to Beyoncé’s famous pregnancy reveal with the eldest Blue Ivy at the 2011 MTV VMAs.
After the performance, with a huge smile on her face, she dropped her mic (literally), unbuttoned her iridescent purple blazer and rubbed her stomach beneath black pants to loud cheers.
For twins Sir and Rumi, Bey took to Instagram to announce. She wore a long veil and knelt in lingerie in front of a floral decoration while holding her stomach.
KATY PERRY
Perry and Orlando Bloom welcomed their first child together, Daisy Dove, in August 2020 after she announced her pregnancy in a music video for Never Worn White in March.
And Perry did, yes, in white while rubbing her stomach and singing about her love for Bloom. She later confirmed the pregnancy on social media.
“omg so glad i don’t have to suck it in anymore,” Perry tweeted.
Bloom has a son, Flynn, with his ex-wife Miranda Kerr.
JASMINE TAKES
Many others have taken to Instagram to spread the baby word to their millions of followers
The model did it in a series of black-and-white video clips from Old Hollywood with husband Juan David Borrero on November 22.
In a cream elegant dress, Tookes stroked her tummy and revealed the basics of the behind-the-scenes pregnancy shoot, including projecting her own image onto a computer screen in one clip. At another, Borrero hugged her from behind.
ZAWE ASHTON
Ashton was single when she performed the “Mr. Malcolm’s List premiered last June, when she walked the red carpet in a tan floor-length dress that showed off her midsection.
Fiancé Tom Hiddleston was not present, but the revelation came two weeks after Hiddleston confirmed he had popped the question. Ashton, who played Julia Thistlewaite in the historical drama, was joined by co-stars Theo James, Freida Pinto, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù and Siânad Gregory.
News outlets confirmed in October that the couple welcomed their child, but no name has been publicly announced.
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Find Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie
