Rihanna’s father Ronald Fenty dies at 70 in Los Angeles after brief illness

Regarding her father's death, the international pop star and business tycoon has not yet made a public statement.

The relationship between Rihanna and Ronald Fenty has long been characterised as complex and characterised by ups and downs. He battled substance abuse for many years, which put a great deal of stress on the family. When Rihanna was just 14 years old, he and her mother, Monica Braithwaite, split up. Rihanna once called their relationship "really strange" in an open interview with Vogue.

“That’s the only word I can think of to describe it because you grow up with your father … you are a part of him for goodness sakes!” she said.

“And then he does something so bizarre that I can’t begin to wrap my mind around it.”

“You hear the horror stories about people going behind people’s backs and doing strange things, but you always think, ‘Not my family. My father would never do that to me,’” she added.

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Despite these painful memories, Rihanna acknowledged a more nuanced perspective in a 2012 interview with Oprah Winfrey. “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. And I had to come to terms with that, and I was able to close that gap with him.”

In 2019, that reconciliation was put to the test when Rihanna filed a lawsuit against Ronald, alleging that he had unlawfully used her name and brand through his company, Fenty Entertainment.