In the summer of 2021, Rita Ora, now-husband Taika Waititi, and Tessa Thompson were seen getting cozy together, so much so that rumors the three were a “throuple” quickly proliferated.
via: People
Back in May 2021, the singer/actress was photographed kissing and cuddling with the Thor: Love and Thunder director and Thompson in Sydney, Australia. In a new interview with British GQ, Ora, 32, is explaining why she chose not to respond to the rumors at the time.
“I just chose to not acknowledge that because it’s ridiculous,” she said. “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 added of the moment the photos captured, “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.”
“They [Taika and Tessa] had a crazy schedule and everyone was letting loose,” she continued. “I love that. Each to their own.”
Ora added that she was at least glad the attention on the moment proved to be meaningful to some of her fans: “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.’ That made me really happy. You don’t know who it’s touching.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Ora explained that she knew husband Waititi was the right person for her when “my life just became better.”
“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,” she recalled, adding, “It was our bond that made me think, ‘I’m ready to settle down.’ I never think about things like that because I don’t want to jinx anything.”
Waititi addressed the PDA photos back in summer 2021, telling The Sydney Morning Herald that he was “not really” upset they went viral.
“I think in the world of the internet, everything goes away pretty quick,” he said at the time. “And also, ‘Is it that big a deal?’ No, not really. I was doing nothing wrong. It’s fine.”
