Natalie Portman may have been snubbed by the Academy this week after her performance as actress Elizabeth Berry in May December didn’t earn her a 2024 Oscar nomination. (The Todd Haynes-directed flick as a whole failed to connect with the awards body in the same way as this year’s Best Picture nominees did, except in the Original Screenplay category.) However, Portman did get some recent praise for a similarly prestigious entity: Rihanna herself. The two A-listers had an amazing fangirl moment, and there’s video of it!
While attending the Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2024 show at Paris Fashion Week on Monday, January 22, the Black Swan actress had her cute encounter with the iconic music performer, which was documented in a video posted on Instagram by photographer Stephane Feugere:
As the “Work” singer posed outside the runway show in a textured Dior gown, matching belted coat, black baseball cap and plenty of diamonds, we can hear Portman approach the singer in the clip and say:
Excuse me, can I interrupt you and [tell you that] I love you?
After warmly ribbing Natalie Portman for her fangirl question, Rihanna can be heard telling the Oscar winner that she, too, is “a fucking fan” and reciprocates the love:
You’re one of the hottest bitches in Hollywood forever. You do the most innocent look, and I’m like, ‘AHHHH.’
The Star Wars alum — who herself was looking glamorous in a full Dior Pre Fall 2024 ensemble, including a black wool and silk jacket, vest and shorts — seemed overwhelmed by the praise being lavished on her by the eternally cool RiRi, telling the singer:
Excuse me? I’m gonna faint. I’m gonna black out. I love you, and I listen to your music all the time and you’re just such a queen.
The Hollywood icons capped off the sweet back-and-forth with Rihanna asking photographers to take a “queen shot” picture of the two of the, so she could “remember this happened tomorrow.”
And Portman herself commemorated the meeting by posting a photo of her embrace with Rihanna onto her Instagram grid on January 24:
Cheered on by celebrity friends like Barbie star America Ferrera and her May December castmate Julianne Moore in the comments, Natalie captioned the snap:
Still not over this… 🥹 @badgalriri
The supportive, unscripted moment between the two stars is reminiscent of a similar public encounter at last week’s fan-favorite Emmy Awards ceremony, during which Bravo superfan Jessica Chastain fangirled over Garcelle Beauvais, one of the stars of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The moment, which saw the dynamic duo sweetly gushing over each other in praise, was similarly captured by an onlooker and posted on social media. We love to see queens supporting queens!
So, though Natalie Portman didn’t get an Academy Award nomination this time around, public kudos from RiRi are a pretty good alternative. (Plus, the actress did get a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress this year, alongside her May December co-stars, Julianne Moore and Charles Melton.)
The star will next be seen as Maddie Schwartz in the upcoming Apple TV+ show Lady in the Lake, which is based on the novel of the same title by Laura Lippman and co-starring Moses Ingram, Y’lan Noel and Mikey Madison. After production was suspended following a scary threat, the limited series finished filming in late 2022 and should be on track to hit the streamer during the 2024 TV schedule. And we already know of one likely viewer: noted Natalie Portman fan Rihanna!
In the meantime, May December is available to streaming using a Netflix subscription.