Rihanna’s father, Ronald Fenty, has reportedly died. He was 70.
The patriarch passed away early Saturday morning in Los Angeles, according to Starcom Network News, a radio station located in the pop superstar’s native country of Barbados.
An official cause of death was not immediately known. However, it was reported Fenty died following a “brief illness.”
Sources told the radio station that family members have gathered in California to commemorate his life.
According to pictures obtained by Page Six, Rihanna’s brother Rajad Fenty, was seen arriving at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to visit Ronald on Wednesday.
Rihanna was believed to be with her brother in the car, but she’s unable to be seen in the photos.
Rihanna’s rep did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment. The “Diamonds” singer has also not yet publicly commented on her father’s passing.
The sad news comes as Rihanna is expecting her third child with longtime boyfriend, A$AP Rocky.
She announced her pregnancy earlier this month by debuting her growing baby bump at this year’s Met Gala.
Rihanna, who was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, and her father have had a troubled relationship over the years reportedly due to the patriarch’s past struggles with alcohol and drug abuse. He divorced her beloved mother, Monica, when the singer was 14.
She addressed their estrangement in a 2011 interview with Vogue, calling their relationship “really strange,” per Billboard.
“That’s the only word I can think of to describe it, because you grow up with your father, you know him, you are a part of him, for goodness’ sakes!”
“And then he does something so bizarre that I can’t begin to wrap my mind around it. You hear the horror stories about people going behind people’s backs and doing strange things, but you always think, Not my family. My father would never do that to me.”
In 2012, Rihanna announced that she and her father had “repaired” their relationship, telling Oprah in an interview that she learned to separate who he was as a father and as a husband.
“He taught me everything, and as awful as he was to my mom, at times, it didn’t compare to how great he was as a father,” she said,” according to People. “And I had to come to terms with that, and I was able to close that gap with him.”
However, it appeared the father daughter duo were back on bad terms in 2019 when Rihanna sued him for allegedly using her name for financial gain through his talent development company, Fenty Entertainment, which he claimed was affiliated with the singer.
Rihanna filed to dismiss the lawsuit three weeks before the case went to trial in 2021, per BBC. After settling the issue, Ronald alleged that the pair had reconciled once again.
He previously told Page Six gushed over his role as a grandpa to Rihanna’s son RZA, whom she welcomed in May 2022 with Rocky.
Ronald said Rihanna had brought the baby back to her home island of Barbados twice with Rocky. Asked how the superstar is coping with motherhood, he replied: “She’s loving it. She’s a very overprotective mother.
