Rihanna, Britney Spears, and more of today's daily gossip

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1. Rihanna is officially in the billionaires club
2. They freed Britney Spears, sort of
3. Meghan Markle and Melissa McCarthy are best friends in the duchess' birthday video
4. The one piece of art Olivia Rodrigo has on her wall
5. The Offspring kicked out their drummer for being an anti-vaxxer

published 4 August 2021

1. Rihanna is officially in the billionaires club

All that work has paid off, and Rihanna has her money. Forbes estimates the 33-year-old singer-turned-businesswoman is worth $1.7 billion, which means she is officially a billionaire, an exclusive group with fewer than 3,000 members. Despite not having released new music since 2016 (much to fans' chagrin), Rihanna is now the wealthiest female musician in the world. She is the second wealthiest female entertainer, behind Oprah Winfrey. The majority of her money comes from Fenty Beauty, which, combined with her lingerie company, Savage x Fenty, and her entertainment career, puts her over the $1 billion mark. The star reportedly spent her childhood in Barbados gazing at the night sky looking for UFOs, so it wouldn't be surprising if her next move is joining her fellow billionaires in space rather than releasing an album.

Britney Spears posted a real doozy of a saga to her Instagram on Tuesday after getting locked in her bathroom. "At 2 a.m. I decided to take a bath," she began, explaining that she'd gotten "a new scented lotion from Victoria's Secret and I wanted to wear it because it helps me sleep better!!!!" Once in the bathroom, however, she got distracted by her "gross" leftover morning coffee and couldn't find her face wash. "Then I went to leave and the door was locked," she said, adding that she had to scream four times to get her boyfriend to wake up. He wasn't able to free her either, so the couple called security. Britney then got so desperate she drank the leftover coffee (???) only for security to finally open the door. "They Free'd Britney for real!" quipped Miley Cyrus in the comments.

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Before she was a duchess, she was an actress, so it's no surprise Meghan Markle has plenty of A-list Hollywood pals. In a video announcing Markle's new mentorship initiative in honor of her 40th birthday, Melissa McCarthy declares Markle's best friend is Melissa McCarthy. The actress even suggests getting matching tattoos with Markle as she holds up a design with both their faces above the words "Besties forever." "This one is you, and that one is me," McCarthy said, pointing to the portraits. "Because sometimes I'm like, 'Are we twinsies?'" Alas, Markle said she'll save the matching tattoo idea for when she turns 50. Someone follow up with her on August 4, 2031!

With a driver's license and high school diploma in hand, 18-year-old Olivia Rodrigo is living on her own for the first time. The pop-star has an apartment in Los Angeles that she is still in the process of decorating, but she made time to hang up one piece of art in her bedroom: A framed Cardi B tweet. Rodrigo credited the rapper with "giving her courage" to say whatever she wants, and on April 21, the rapper responded. Now immortalized on paper, Cardi B wrote: "You doing sooo good for your age. Don't let no toxic shit get to you and don't let nobody restrict you from your voice." "I honestly bawled. I literally saw it and cried," Rodrigo told GQ. "I was like, 'Thanks, Cardi. I'm not going to listen to bulls---.'"

Like the latest fashion, like a spreading disease, anti-vaxxers are complaining about being excluded from gyms, restaurants, and even their own bands over not getting the shot against COVID-19. Pete Parada, the drummer for the Offspring, said he'd been ousted from the group over not getting his jab. "[I]t has recently been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour," Parada wrote on Instagram, adding that he has "no negative feelings towards my band." While the punk rock band might be a surprising group to take a stand on vaccines, Variety notes that "the Offspring's frontman, Dexter Holland, is not likely to be without some strong opinions on the spread of COVID: He received his PhD in molecular biology from USC four years ago." You know what they say: You gotta keep 'em vaccinated.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.