The Real Super Bowl MVP Was Adele Showing Up for Rihanna
Adele stayed completely true to her word at the Super Bowl last night, showing she truly was there for one thing, and one thing only: Rihanna.
Adele made her plans perfectly clear during a recent show at her Las Vegas residency. While chatting with a fan about the upcoming big game, Adele quipped, “I’m going just for Rihanna. I don’t give a flying fuck who’s playing.” (To cap it all off, Adele then let out that trademark cackle of hers.)
Sure enough, Adele was in the stands Sunday night as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in a game that was high-scoring and thrilling until a controversial penalty in the final few minutes turned a potentially epic climax into a dull denouement. But that’s not why you’re here, and that’s certainly not why Adele was there.
As usual, the television broadcast hopped around to the various celebrities in the crowd, and Adele was shown in all her glory — pursed lips, pants suit, drink in-hand, ginormous sunglasses, looking the dictionary definition of, as the Brits would say, “can’t be arsed.” That is, of course, until right before Rihanna took the stage, when one sharp-eyed camera person captured an instantly meme-able moment of Adele getting ready for the big show.
Now, what exactly Adele was saying is a bit up for debate. At first glance, it sure as hell looks like she’s telling the two guys talking over her to shut the hell up (Who can relate?). She even seemed to punctuate her shush with an absolutely devastating “zip it” gesture.
However, some very confident, albeit non-professional online lip-readers are claiming Adele was doing a bit of pre-show punditry about Rihanna’s preparations for her first live performance in over four years. One user offered this guess at what she was saying: “She’ll have some weed and be like *mmmmmh*. She’ll be fab, she’ll be fab.” (If that is, in fact the case, the pregnancy reveal that accompanied Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance probably complicates Adele’s weed theory, but the fab assessment still stands.)
Of course, whichever Adele you want to see in that moment is in the eye of the beholder, and both options are iconic in their own way.