Actor Natalie Portman said she found strength from singer Rihanna to help her recover from a divorce.
During an appearance on Monday's episode of "The Tonight Show," Portman, 43, said she had a run-in with Rihanna during Paris Fashion Week in January, and the "amazing experience" helped boost her mood and confidence.
"I think every woman going through divorce should get to have Rihanna say to her that she's a bad b****," Portman said, according to Billboard. "It was exactly what I needed."
Portman and Benjamin Millepied finalized their divorce after 11 years of marriage this year.
During his show Monday, Jimmy Fallon rolled a video clip of the two women meeting on the street outside the Dior Haute Couture show. In the video, Rihanna hugs Portman, saying, "I love you!" before telling the star she was a massive fan.
"You're one of the hottest b*****s in Hollywood forever!," she continues, to which Portman responded, "Are you kidding me?… Excuse me, I'm gonna faint!"
Rihanna added that she did not "get excited about anybody," which spoke volumes about her opinion of Portman, who got emotional telling Fallon that "it was a formative moment in my life."
Portman quietly filed for divorce from her French choreographer husband in July last year in France, where they lived with their two children. A representative confirmed to People that their divorce was finalized in February.
Portman and Millepied met while working on the film "Black Swan," which earned Portman the Best Actress Oscar in 2010.
Their split came after rumors emerged that Millepied had had an affair. A source revealed to Us Weekly in August that they had parted ways.
"After news of his affair came out, they've been trying to work on their marriage but are currently on the outs," the insider claimed at the time.
Weeks before, speculation emerged that Millepied was having an affair with climate change activist Camille Étienne, 26.
Photographs published by French magazine Voici showed Millepied and Étienne entering his office separately and leaving 10 minutes apart almost two hours later.
According to an accompanying article, Portman had learned of her husband's alleged infidelity several months before the photos were published.
Sources at the time shared with Page Six that the couple had been battling to save their marriage, noting that they had separated the year before but later reconciled.
"They have not split and are trying to work things out. Ben is doing everything he can to get Natalie to forgive him. He loves her and their family," one insider said at the time.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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