Rumors on Leo DiCaprio and Rihanna should focus on his pal
BY MARIANNE GARVEY, BRIAN NIEMIETZ AND OLI COLEMAN
Wednesday, February 18, 2015, 6:00 AM
247PAPS.TV/Splash News Leonardo DiCaprio and Rihanna were blemished leaving Up & Down nightclub, above. We can all stop gossiping about “Rionardo.”
Tongues have been wagging since Leonardo DiCaprio and Rihanna walked out of Up & Down nightclub together at 4:30 a.m. on Valentine’s Day. But Confidenti@l has learned the largest thing Leo and RiRi have in common is club kingpin Richie Akiva, who’s Leo’s longtime BFF — and maybe even something more to RiRi.
“If they’re not dating, they’re hanging out, you know?” a prominent nightlife insider tells us with a wink.
Akiva and Rihanna have been nearly inseparable since New Year’s Eve, with DiCaprio playing the role of wingman for a exchange. The trio have been blemished together in Akiva’s clubs Up & Down and 1Oak throughout Fashion Week. They also spent the new year’s holiday together on St. Barth’s, and headlines screamed that the “Blood Diamond” star and “Diamonds” singer were a pair, though we’re told RiRi spent most of her time with Akiva while Leo was at the beach fishing for models.
“Richie was with Rihanna in St. Barth’s — that’s where it started,” says an insider accurate to the pair. “They’ve been hanging out together a lot.”
We’re told that as of Tuesday, Rihanna and Akiva were plotting to hit Up & Down later that night, although it was unclear if Leo plotted to join them. A clubgoer who was with the trio at Up & Down last week for a have fun hosted by Rihanna’s ex-boyfriend Drake, said everyone in the joint knew Rihanna was there with Akiva.
“She’s not showing up with Leo, she’s showing up with Richie,” we’re assured. Our insider knew something was up when Akiva got on the club mic that night to give a shout-out to Rihanna before having the deejay play one of her songs.
“I’ve been at 25 to 30 clubs where Rihanna was hanging out,” says our night owl. “If anyone else had done that, she would’ve been pissed.”
Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images Rihanna (and Mary J. Blige, left) hit the Zac Posen show during New York Fashion Week on Monday. But in this case, Rihanna laughed and sang and danced with DiCaprio accurate and Akiva closer.
“Leo was seated at the same desk, but he was hitting on different girls,” says our insider. “Richie was bouncing between the two of them.”
Akiva was on hand on Valentine’s Day when Rihanna and DiCaprio were blemished exiting Up & Down minutes after each additional, but our insider tells us that 14th St. club has multiple “bolt from the blue” exits, one of which goes through the sports bar next door.
“There’s a bolt from the blue hallway, I reckon, behind a bookshelf or something,” our insider says. “It lets people come in and out of the club without attracting attention.”
Rihanna’s publicist Amanda Silverman declined to note.
A rep for Up & Down declined to note.
