Unraveling The NYFW Feud Between Rihanna, Naomi Campbell, And Law Roach

I was busy trying not to take it personally that everyone was having the time of their lives at the 2024 New York Fashion Week while I sat home in sweats until some spicy fashion royalty goss landed right at my door. Following the beef between semi-retired musical princess Rihanna and forever fashion icon Naomi Campbell on Twitter (nope, still not calling it X, sorry) made me feel like I had front-row seats to that elites-only Alaia show after all. On the one hand, fighting with Rihanna has ended poorly for many a musical celebrity peer who tried to step to her, like Ciara or Miss Keri Hilson. But on the other hand, Naomi Campbell is not Rihanna’s peer. She is the original supermodel whose impact on fashion and culture is basically impossible to measure. She struts her fierce runway walk in a lane she carved out all by her damn self. Tyra Banks (also a GOATed supermodel for those who only know her from Life Size) was not capable of making a minuscule mark on Naomi’s designer armor during their famous feud. So why are the girls fighting and how did Zendaya’s legendary partner in textile crime get involved? Here’s a breakdown of the Rihanna/Naomi Campbell/Law Roach NYFW fight.

What did Rihanna do to Naomi Campbell?

Rumors of a feud started when Rihanna appeared to have ignored Naomi Campbell on the September 6, 2024 Alaia fashion show. Riri waltzed into the room after all of the other VIP guests had been seated and graciously greeted Edward Enniful, the creative director of British Vogue. As Rihanna and Edward air kissed and hugged, Naomi and Law patiently waited in their seats to be acknowledged by the Barbados Barbie, but Rihanna moved on in her cloud of fabric without giving Naomi freaking Campbell a cursory nod. Ouch. Some speculate that maybe Rih didn’t see Naomi or Law sitting there (feels impossible) or was rushing to be seated (she looked pretty chill to me as she said hi to everyone else she wanted to). Either way, Naomi’s ring was not kissed, which had to have been an insult to injury considering Naomi was also recently shaded by Anna GD Wintour.

Fans Assumed Naomi Campbell And Law Roach’s TikTok Was About Rihanna

While making a TikTok playing off of Jools’ insanely viral “demure” trend, Law first said, “We don’t go to the shows like the other girls. We don’t come with our tatas out or our chichis out. Very demure. Very cutsie.” Naomi adds, “Very mindful. We don’t give too much. It’s not about showing yourself, it’s about showing the clothes.” A million very demure/cutsie/mindful references later, fans assumed this was a targeted dig at Rihanna, whose tatas and chichis were arguably out during the now infamous Alaia snub. On September 15, Law quickly hopped back on main to shut down the chronically online internet sleuths with a video captioned “Can y’all just stop making shit up?” In the video, he cheekily chides that in the age of social media, “Y’all always think something as to be something. But something ain’t always something… so stop trying to make nothing into something. You know what? Y’all need to get some business.” Basically, he’s making it clear that their TikTok was not the intended start of a fashion blood feud with Rihanna. I guess that’s technically good news, although now I’m kind of sad we’re probably not going to get a haute couture showdown that would keep pop culture fed for months.

Do Rihanna and Naomi Campbell actually have beef?

While Law has cleared his name of any shady slander, it’s very possible Naomi and Rihanna are on the outs. They previously supported each other, like when Naomi attended Rihanna’s Fenty fashion show in 2016. But as the real fashion girlies will recall, Naomi and Rihanna have had some rocky moments. There’s that time Naomi whispered something to Rihanna on stage at the 2014 BFAs that didn’t seem to land well. Then, the pair famously unfollowed each other as discussed by Campbell on a 2017 episode of WWHL. When Andy Cohen asked if things were okay between them, Naomi quipped “Everything’s fine” followed by “I’m an actress now, Andy.” Naomi then went on to say she can’t have beef with Rihanna because she supports all Black women in their field. So whatever the obvious tea was about, Naomi felt it wasn’t worth besmirching Rihanna’s name for the greater good of female solidarity. Okay, girl power! Still, given the fact that Rihanna could’ve gone out of her way to acknowledge Naomi either before the show or after, when rumors of the snub were growing online, it would seem everything is very much not fine after all.