DUBAI: Pop superstar Rihanna has been spotted with her alleged Saudi beau Hassan Jameel lounging poolside in Mexico, British tabloids reported Tuesday.
The reported couple, who caused a media whirlwind when news of their apparent relationship spread last year, looked less than picture perfect in a series of photographs published in the Daily Mail. The pair seemed to be arguing, with Rihanna jabbing her finger in the Saudi businessman’s direction — but for all we know, they could have been engaged in a lighthearted game of charades.
It seems unlikely that we will ever find out what all the fuss was about as the duo have remained tight-lipped on the status of their relationship and have not publicly confirmed their rumored romance.
However, in an interview with Vogue magazine in May, the “Wild Thoughts” singer hinted that she had found a special somebody.
“I used to feel guilty about taking personal time,” she told the magazine, “but I also think I never met someone who was worth it before.”
Previously linked with British supermodel Naomi Campbell — after the pair was spotted together at in London’s Hyde Park in July 2016 — Jameel belongs to a wealthy Saudi family renowned locally and even globally for its longstanding relationship with Japanese automaker Toyota. Jameel is currently the deputy president and vice chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel Co. — a company that was launched by his grandfather. In 2014, Jameel received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his charitable contribution to arts and culture in the UK.
The pair’s trip to the sunny shores of Mexico comes one month after MediaTakeOut reported that the Barbados-born Fenty Beauty mogul had broken up with Jameel, citing an alleged inside source who said: “She just got tired of him. She gets tired of men sometimes.”
While it remains to be seen whether the couple really is an item, Saudi make-up fans aren’t complaining and even took to social media to theorize that Rihanna’s much-reported-on launch of Fenty Beauty in Saudi Arabia earlier this year was in part due to her desire to visit her potential future in-laws.
It was a joke that spread like wildfire on Twitter as users posted comments like: “She’s coming to visit her in-laws” and “Hassan Jameel did all the ladies a favor.”
Fenty Beauty, named 2017’s best innovation by Time Magazine, was made available in Sephora stores in the Kingdom on April 19.
Rihanna launched the beauty line in September, with a promise to make all women feel included.
“Fenty Beauty was created for everyone: For women of all shades, personalities, attitudes, cultures, and races. I wanted everyone to feel included, that’s the real reason I made this line,” she said at the time of the launch in 2017.
