A history of Drake and Rihanna not kissing on camera

By Fusion Staff | September 1, 2016 | 8:19pm

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The internet’s collective heart skipped a beat when photos surfaced of Rihanna kissing Drake onstage at a Miami concert last night. The on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again star-crossed lovers—surely it’s not an understatement to call them soulmates?—appear more on-again than ever.

The significance of this moment becomes even more apparent when you consider just how rarely Rihanna has permitted Drake to publicly smooch her through the course of their long, intermittently romantic friendship. Allow us to present the following photographic evidence.

Rihanna’s “What’s My Name” Video (2010)

Drake’s eyes are closed, so maybe he thinks he’s about to kiss Rihanna, but it’s not happening.

The 2011 Grammys

No kissing here, just Drake making some intense eye contact with Rihanna’s cleavage.

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game

Drake clearly wants to kiss Rihanna’s hand, but even that level of PDA feels overly ambitious at this point. (Also: Drake is wearing the same jacket he wore at the Grammys one week earlier. It’s a good jacket.)

Drake’s “Take Care” Video (2011)

Snuggling? Yes. Kissing? No.

A Drake Concert in London (2014)

Drake appears to blow kisses to Rihanna from the stage. Sorry, doesn’t count.

Rihanna’s “Work” Video (2016)

Rih’s face says it all.

The 2016 Brit Awards

While Drake is seemingly attempting to lick Rihanna, there are exactly zero kisses going on in this photo.

A Rihanna Concert in Miami (2016)

Drake is nothing if not resilient.

The 2016 MTV VMAs

After Drake presented Rihanna with the Video Vanguard Award, he came so close. And yet, so far.

After the VMAs

The extreme camera angle can’t hide that this is more of an unsolicited cheek smush than a kiss.

At a Club in Miami

This is about the closest Aubrih had historically come to a full-on public kiss, which probably explains the look of utter delight on Drake’s face.

Molly Fitzpatrick is senior editor of Fusion’s Pop & Culture section. Her interests include movies about movies, TV shows about TV shows, and movies about TV shows, but not so much TV shows about movies.