Rita Ora calls out 'ridiculous' rumor she's in throuple with Taika Waititi, Tessa Thompson
Rita Ora is shutting down "ridiculous" rumors about her relationship with her husband, director Taika Waititi.
In an interview with GQ, published online Monday, the singer spoke about speculation that she and her husband were in a throuple, or a three-person romantic relationship, with actress Tessa Thompson.
The rumors surfaced after Ora, Waititi and Thompson were photographed cuddling and appearing to kiss each other in Sydney in May 2021.
"I just chose to not acknowledge that because it’s ridiculous," Ora told GQ. "I think when some things are so absurd, and it’s hard to fathom any sense of it, you just have to ignore it. I’ve taken that approach for a lot of things, because you don’t want to put energy towards something that’s nonexistent. It’s like trying to explain something that didn’t happen means you’re feeding into nothing."
Ora also provided more context for the photo.
"Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve had a lot of drinks and everyone’s your best friend? And then the next day you’re like, 'I was talking to this person in the smoking area for four hours and I’ve got no idea who they are?' Literally – that (photo) was just a bunch of friends having a good time," she said. "They (Taika and Tessa) had a crazy schedule and everyone was letting loose. I love that. Each to their own."
According to Ora, some good did come from the controversy. Though the throuple rumors are false, the singer said she saw plenty of positive responses on Twitter to the photograph.
"The good news though is that when I was on Twitter talking to my fans, all of my incredible LGBTQIA+ fanbases were like, actually – whether this is true or not – I’m so inspired that this is being normalized publicly," she said. "That made me really happy. You don’t know who it’s touching."
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Ora, who married Waititi in 2022, said she knew he was the one when she felt how much better her life was with him in it.
"When I didn’t feel a change, like my life just became better," she said. "We were really good friends for six years, and I went to Australia and we both had separate jobs, and we didn’t really know that many people out there. It was nice to see a familiar face and our universes just collided. That was it."
The singer is gearing up to release her new single "You Only Love Me" Friday.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rita Ora shuts down Taika Waititi, Tessa Thomspon throuple speculation