Natalie Portman says Rihanna’s ‘bad bitch’ compliment was just what she needed mid-divorce

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Back in January, Oscar winner Natalie Portman ran into billionaire mogul Rihanna at Paris Fashion Week, and their interaction was appropriately viral. Portman, like the rest of us, was thrilled to see Thee Rihanna, while the singer called the actor “one of the hottest bitches in Hollywood forever.”

Now, Portman is opening up about just how much that compliment meant to her, as she was going through a divorce at the time.

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“It was…an amazing experience for me,” she told Jimmy Fallon while visiting The Tonight Show. “I think every woman going through a divorce should get to have Rihanna say to her that she is a bad bitch. It was exactly what I needed.”

(Yes, Rihanna technically said “hottest” bitch, it’s fine, don’t be weird.)

“It was a formative moment in my life,” Portman added. Portman has basically said nothing publicly about her divorce from choreographer Benjamin Millepied, with whom she shares two children. Sources have alleged that Millepied had an affair (boo! Tomato tomato! Cheating on NATALIE?), and while they tried to work past it at first, they finalised their divorce in March (approximately 2.5 months post-Rih).

Natalie Portman isn’t the only glamorous A-list actress to have an insecurity assuaged by the power of Rih. In 2018, Anne Hathaway opened up about a special compliment she got from Rihanna two years prior on the set of Ocean’s 8.

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“I don’t beat myself up about any of that stuff anymore, but after I had my son, the weight was really slow to come off and so I was a different size than I normally am,” she recalled. “I walked on the set, and my weight’s a little up and I’m just aware of it…and I’m in my jeans, and I’ve done my best and I’m gonna love myself no matter what…And Sandy Bullock looks up and goes, ‘You look good, mama.’ And then Cate Blanchett’s like, ‘Nice jeans, Hathaway.’ And then Rihanna looks up and goes, ‘Damn girl, you got an ass.’”

Hathaway continued, “And I of course was freaked out and loved it so much and I go, ‘Really?’ And she goes, ‘You got an ass like me.’ And I can honestly say I’ve never had that experience on a film set before.”

So there you have it. Going through a life change? Call Rihanna.

This article originally appeared on GLAMOUR (US).