Drake and Rihanna are being accused of dating for publicity.
A slew of fans took to social media to accuse the recently reconciled couple of faking their relationship as the dating rumors began to swirl, just days after both made very public declarations of love for each other during an appearance at OVO Fest.
Skeptical fans didn’t hold back when calling out the twosome on the 140-character site, claiming that Drake and Rihanna, who were first romantically linked back in 2009, were purposefully letting the rumors swirl as a publicity stunt.
“Drake and Rihanna aren’t even dating but they let the rumors fly for publicity,” Twitter user @Yoncemynamee claimed on Twitter as reports suggested that Drake and Rihanna were dating again.
“I feel like Drake and Rihanna are fake dating for publicity, but I really hope it’s real,” @the_parTAYY wrote, and @this_beat_iz added, “Rihanna and Drake dating is a publicity stunt I’m calling it right now.”
But the Drake dating scepticism didn’t stop there.
“I bet Drake and Rihanna are dating as a publicity stunt so that they can make a lot more money on their ‘breakup albums’ but that’s genius,” Twitter user @Raven_ramirez18 mused of Rihanna and Drake’s rumored reconciliation, while @lowkeypsycho tweeted, “low key feel like Drake and Rihanna are dating just for the publicity.”
Drake and Rihanna have yet to officially confirm that they’re dating again, though the twosome did nothing to dispel the relationship rumors while taking to the stage together at OVO Fest in Toronto, Canada, last week.
According to Us Weekly , Rihanna and Drake appeared to get seriously flirty on the festival stage, with Drake even telling the “Needed Me” singer in front of a packed crowd that he wanted to “go half” on a baby.
“You showed up two nights in a row for my city. You might have to go half on a baby,” Drake told Rihanna on the OVO stage shortly after fans claimed that the star affectionately referred to Drake as “baby” as the two performed their biggest hits, including “Work” and “Take Care.”
Drake then continued to gush over Rihanna during the show, telling her that she was “looking good” and then describing the Barbadian singer as being “the greatest entertainer in the world.”
Just days later, Drake made his admiration for Rihanna public once again, dropping some affectionate words during a stop on his “Summer Sixteen Tour” stop at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Page Six reported that Drake told an excited crowd before covering some of his past duets with Rihanna, “If you’ve got love for Rihanna in New York City make some noise, because you know I’ve got love for Rihanna.”
Despite their very public love declarations, neither Rihanna nor Drake have officially confirmed that they’re dating again. However, People reported back in May that the two have actually been “secretly dating for months.”
“They have been keeping it a secret because this time around,” the site’s insider confirmed of why Rihanna and Drake have been keeping their relationship so private this time around. “They want to do it right and keep their relationship private.”
E! News also confirmed that Rihanna and Drake are dating but claimed that the reason their romance is on the down low is because Rihanna isn’t ready to settle down and call Drake her boyfriend.
“Drake has expressed to Rihanna that he only wants to date her and only her, but she wants to take day by day this time around,” a source said as fans speculated on the authenticity of the twosome’s romance.
But while Rihanna is reluctant to make things official, the source noted that “Drake would make her his girlfriend in a second if he could.”
What do you think of rumors claiming that Drake and Rihanna may be dating for publicity?
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images and Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images]