Rihanna Reportedly Dating Real Madrid Player Karim Benzema A Year After His Sex Trial Was Dropped

It looks like it’s getting serious for Rihanna and Karim Benzema. The pop singer has been spotted out and out about with the Real Madrid player this past week. Now fans have been finding out who Rih’s new man is, and it’s not looking pretty. The singer started dating the soccer star a year after his sex trial was dropped.

Rihanna and Benzema, both 27, were recently spotted getting to know each other at the Italian restaurant known as Giorgio Baldi. The “American Oxygen” singer is a big fan of the restaurant so it would only make sense that she would bring her new man there. Both Rihanna and Benzema traveled separately to and from the restaurant, according to a recent report from People magazine. Their dinner date was the second time that the new couple was seen together.

Rihanna and Benzema were previously spotted at Hooray Henry’s on Wednesday night. An alleged source told the tabloid that the Caribbean singer and the soccer player were “drinking and cuddling during the show” as they sat in the back of the hotspot. During the early hours of the morning, Rihanna and Benzema slipped away to the ever-popular 1OAK nightclub in Los Angeles.

Rumors first swarmed around the couple when they were photographed having breakfast early last week. Rihanna and Benzema first made headlines in June, 2014, when they interacted on Twitter. The singer used the social networking site to share her support for the player during the World Cup.

In a short message, RiRi wrote: “@Benzema I feel your pain right now!”

He then replied: “@rihanna No pain no gain, thanks for the support!”

In July, RiRi also took to Twitter to call the footballer her “baby.”

It was also around the same time that Karim Benzema was accused of sleeping with underage prostitutes. Back in January of 2014, both Benzema and Franck Ribery were cleared of having sex with underage girls. There have been talks that the Champion League footballers were sleeping with prostitutes as far back as 2009. It wasn’t reported until April 8, 2010, by the French media that the four members of the French national team were sleeping with clients from an underground prostitute ring. Some of the women were either underage or transgender. The players were alleged to include Franck Ribery, Sidney Govou, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Benzema. The case went to trial and the first hearing was in June, 2013.

Bayern Munich soccer star Ribery admitted that he slept with then 17-year-old Zahia Dehar after he met her on a private jet. He blatantly admitted that he slept with the girl in honor of his 26th birthday. Ribery also told judge that he gave her over $1,000 for food, lodging, and travel expenses — and not for sex. The prosecution found that there wasn’t enough proof to find if Benzema slept with Dehar or paid $678 to sleep with her. Benzema denied the allegations. If found guilty, both Ribery and Benzema would have faced up to three years in prison.

In France, the age of consent is 15, but paying for sex is illegal if the woman is under the age of 18. It looks like Rihanna is not aware of Benzema’s controversial past. Maybe she is and she doesn’t care either way. They don’t call her “bad gal RiRi” for no reason.

There also have been talks with Rihanna’s fans (also known as the “Rihanna Navy”) that Karim has openly dated one of his firstborn cousins, Chloé de Launay. He also bears a child with his former girlfriend. It hasn’t been confirmed if Chloé is in fact his cousin since there’s little information about him online.

No doubt, some fans are not excited to hear the news about Rihanna and Karim dating. What are your thoughts on Rihanna dating the Real Madrid player? Do you think she should date him despite his past? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.

[Images: Ezra Shaw and Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images]