Just as Katy Perry ends one feud, another is in full force.
On May 9 — one day after Taylor Swift revealed on her Instagram Story that Katy had sent her an actual olive branch along with a note seeking to mend their years-long estrangement — a new report reveals that onetime Katy bestie Rihanna excluded the pop star from her Met Gala afterparty amid claims their friendship is in tatters.
"The former best friends haven't seen each other for more than 18 months after falling out," The Sun's Bizarre column writes. "But they were forced to pose for an excruciatingly awkward photo together on the red carpet" at the Met Gala on May 7, as Rihanna was a co-chair of the event and Katy was one of its most high-profile celebrity attendees.
"Because Rihanna was chairing the Met Gala, she had to pose with a lot of the celebrity guests but it was really uncomfortable when she was asked to have the photo with Katy," a source close to Katy told The Sun. "They used to be close but Rihanna's expression in the photo says it all."
Katy, the source added, "was upset about the whole situation because Rihanna was cold to her and she wasn't invited to her afterparty."
Many other big-name stars, however, were. A slew of bold-face names including Emma Stone, Justin Theroux, Tiffany Haddish, the "Black Panther" cast's Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya and Letitia Wright as well as Blake Lively, Pharrell Williams, Zendaya, Sean "Diddy" Combs, new couple Elon Musk and Grimes and more gathered at RiRi's bash at New York City's Up & Down club to let loose after fashion's biggest night.
Katy and Rihanna became fast friends in 2009 after meeting and bonding over a sparkly Valentino bag Rihanna was carrying. After Katy complimented her on it, RiRi sent the "American Idol" judge a Valentino accessory as a Valentine's Day gift and their friendship blossomed. The next year, RiRi even threw a bachelorette party for the "Firework" singer before Katy married Russell Brand.
"I'll tell you, you do not find people like her in this industry. She's gorgeous, charming and so unedited it's scary," Rihanna told ELLE of Katy in 2012. "That's what intrigued me most when I first met her: She said it like she saw it. I trust people like that. I feel safe around people who tell me the f—ed-up s— because I know they'll always tell me the truth."
As for what's behind their falling out, a source told Britain's Mirror last fall, "They didn't have a big bust-up over one specific thing, but over time, their friendship has gone from being one of the strongest to practically nonexistent. Katy was pretty gutted about it."