Inside Rihanna's rollercoaster relationship with her dad amid his shock death

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

After a long and complicated history, Rihanna 's father Ronald Fenty has reportedly passed away at age 70.
The Umbrella songstress, 37, has long been open about how her father's crack and alcohol addictions cast a dark shadow over her childhood.
She has said that her dad's substance abuse issues lead to explosive fights between her parents that sometimes turned physical - and that he once 'slapped her' so hard in the face when she was only seven-years-old that it left a 'handprint' on her cheek.
His drug problems also meant Rihanna's mom had to work overtime to provide for her family, forcing Rihanna to step up and take care of her two younger brothers when she was little.
Her yearning for a better life and longing for an escape from her 'abusive' dad were likely a driving force in her launching her music career at only 15 years old.
But her relationship with her dad didn't get any easier after she found fame, in fact, things only got more messy as their problems often trickled into the media.
Over the years, Rihanna and her father have gotten into multiple public feuds: he once got kicked off her tour after he 'embarrassed her' by 'disrespected' crew members; she was left furious when he spoke publicly about her controversial romance with Chris Brown; and he was kicked out of her charity event for boozing soon after he completed a rehab stint she had funded.
Things got so bad in 2019 she actually sued Ronald for allegedly trying to cash in on her fame by using their family name to brand his entertainment business.
But in recent years it had seemed as though they had finally reconciled as Ronald revealed in 2022 after Rihanna announced her pregnancy that they had been in touch and that he was 'over the moon' over the news.
It's certainly been a rollercoaster ride for Rihanna and her father.
Amid the news of his shock passing, FEMAIL has recapped their tumultuous relationship from start to finish.
Rihanna's childhood was plagued by Ronald's drug addiction, as well as and his violent fights with her mom
Rihanna, who grew up in Barbados, has long been open about how her father's addictions to crack and alcohol cast a dark shadow over her childhood.
'Even as a toddler, I learned that my mom and dad would argue when there was foil paper in the ashtray,' she once recalled to the Mirror.
It was said that her dad's substance abuse issues lead to explosive fights between her parents that sometimes turned physical.
'I could tell when a conversation was getting too intense, when it was going to get physical,' she told Rolling Stone back in 2011.
'And Fridays would be scary because he would come home drunk. He'd get paid, and half of it would go toward alcohol. He'd walk in the door, and it was all eyes on him.'
She also revealed that her dad hit her once when she was seven years old after she asked to stay at the beach 10 more minutes.
'He slapped me so hard. I ran home with his handprint on me,' she recalled. 'I couldn't believe it.
'My mother saw my face, how traumatized I was ... [it] was out of nowhere.'
In addition, she told ABC, '[My parents] had a very abusive relationship. My dad was the abuser. [He hit her] on numerous account.'
Her mom, Monica, worked tirelessly to try to provide for Rihanna and her two brothers, which sometimes meant the singer had to look after her younger siblings.
'It was going on in the home for a long time,' she previously said of her dad's drug use to Guardian.
'My dad got put out of the house a few times because she was not having that around us. My mom had to be a woman and a man, working her a** off for us.'
Her parents ultimately divorced when she was 14 years old, and one year later, she kicked off her music career.
She had formed a girl group with two of her classmates and together, they auditioned for record producer Evan Rogers.
He was instantly blown away by her talent and invited her to come to the US and record some demos to send to labels.
She was signed to Def Jam Recordings soon after, and the rest if history.
The father-daughter duo became embroiled in a public feud after she kicked him off her tour in 2009 and he spoke to media about her relationship with Chris Brown
Rihanna's complicated relationship with her father was brought into the spotlight in 2009, four years after she released her first single, when she admitted that they hadn't spoke in over a year.
'I've been the one trying to reconcile with him forever,' she said during an appearance on Ryan Seacrest's Kiis FM radio show.
'I haven't heard from my father in over a year. I try though, I reached out to him. I did my part. Now it's on him.'
At the time, she said they had a falling out after he 'embarrassed' her on her tour.
'He did something that was a little embarrassing,' she dished. 'He disrespected some people on the bus and I didn't like that, so I kind of just let him go back home.
'I didn't think it was going to be a thing where we weren't talking to each other. I just thought: "You just need some time away right now."
'Every time I tried to call him after that, that was it. I contacted him on numerous occasions - father's day, his birthday - and just nothing.'
The pop star also said at the time that she was 'upset' that her dad had given interviews following her assault at the hands of then-boyfriend Chris Brown.
'He kind of did something that was really upsetting. He turned his back on me and went to the media,' she continued.
'He got paid to talk about stuff - all these little interviews he was doing after the whole situation in February.
'I hadn't spoken to him and he was speaking as though we did. It was so disappointing to me.'
In 2012, however, Rihanna told Oprah that she had 'repaired' their relationship.
'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 on her show.
'And I had to come to terms with that, and I was able to close that gap with him.'
Rihanna paid to put Ronald through an expensive Malibu rehab program in 2014, but soon after, he was kicked out of a charity even for boozing
In 2014, Rihanna's dad spoke exclusively with DailyMail.com about his complicated relationship with the singer.
He revealed that Rihanna had put him through an expensive Malibu rehab program after he had gotten into a drunken argument with a bar server over his change and police were called.
Caring Rihanna even sent her dad extra clothes and toiletries for his stay and visited him when she got back from touring in Europe.
But he confessed at the time that he had fallen off the wagon and had to be escorted out of a charity event she was hosting for boozing.
'I had Johnny Walker Black. I had two doubles and tripped over a chair ... Security came up and said "we're taking you home,"' he said.
'I said, "But I haven't seen my daughter yet" … and they said, "Don't matter man."'
He added: 'I'm sad how it ended of course, I should have never taken that first drink or any drink for that matter. I wish I had seen her of course.
'She will probably hear how I was and how I had a few drinks, so I guess she would be angry with me. I think she is, I'm not sure, we haven't spoken just yet.
'I feel bad because I let her down because she spend all that money putting me in rehab, [and] then find me drunk somewhere. It is not good. What can I say but I'm sorry. It's me who f**ed up.'
Asked what possessed him to drink at the event, Ronald claimed he was depressed that his two older children from a previous relationship – Rihanna's half brother and sister Jamie and Samantha - weren't invited.
Ronald said he feels terrible for breaking his promise to stop drinking to his daughter.
But when asked if he was an alcoholic, he insisted: 'Me, n,. drunk and disorderly. I don't see myself as an alcoholic, I don't realize when I get that drunk.
'Call me a drunk or alcoholic in denial, whatever you want to call me but I have realized I could drink or not drink.
'I only start[ed] drinking, once I come back here in December.'
Rihanna sued her dad in 2019 for allegedly trying to cash in on her fame by using their family name to brand his entertainment business
Things became more tense between them in January 2019 after it was revealed that Rihanna had sued her dad for allegedly trying to cash in on her fame by using their family name to brand his entertainment business, Fenty Entertainment.
In legal papers first obtained by The Blast, the singer, alleged Ronald, along with a business partner, Moses Perkins, he has been soliciting business by falsely acting as her agent.
Despite having no authority to act on his daughter's behalf, Ronald was said to have booked her on a $15 million tour in Latin America and two concerts, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for $400,000.
Rihanna asked for damages from her father, and an injunction on his business, set up in 2017.
A year later, however, it was reported that Rihanna had helped her father after he contracted coronavirus, sending him a ventilator and checking in on him on a daily basis.
She withdrew her lawsuit in September 2021, and it's believed that the two came to a settlement.
They seemed to have reconciled before his sock death at age 70, as he revealed the singer sent him photos of her baby bump before debuting it to the world
TMZ reported on Saturday that Ronald died in Los Angeles following an illness.
Starcomm Network, a radio station in Rihanna's native Barbados, has also reported Ronald's death.
As for where their relationship stood before his shocking passing, it seemed they had reconciled in recent years.
In 2022, he told Page Six that he was 'over the moon' after Rihanna revealed that she was expecting her first child with A$AP Rocky.
'I'm so happy that I jumped for joy. I'm still so excited,' he gushed. 'Rihanna always said that she wanted children, she loves kids.
'She always takes care of her cousins' kids… she's going to be a good mom.'
Ronald, who spoke via phone from his home in Barbados, said he found A$AP Rocky to be 'a very cool guy' after the two got a chance to meet when his daughter brought the rapper home in December 2020.
'I like him,' he added, before revealing that he got the news of Rihanna's pregnancy a day before she went public with her burgeoning tummy.
'I just got the news from her last night, and she sent me some photos,' he said. 'I'm just over the moon. She's beautiful inside and out.'