Rihanna Accidentally Ghosted by Ms. Rachel After DM Mistake — The Awkward Celebrity Mix-Up
Jordan Collins here. Okay, I’ll explain, but try to keep up.
If you thought celebrity DMs were always glamorous, congratulations: you were wrong. Ms. Rachel, the children’s entertainer known for her viral nursery content, accidentally left a direct message from Rihanna unread for months because she did not recognize the pop superstar’s Instagram profile. The revelation landed during an August 7 appearance on the Not Gonna Lie podcast with Kylie Kelce, where Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Accurso, confessed she is an “elder millennial” and not especially fluent in Instagram mechanics such as message requests and top requests. She bluntly admitted she had ghosted several people unknowingly, including Rihanna.
Yes, that Rihanna, the Fenty mogul and mother to RZA, 3, and Riot, 23 months, and currently expecting her third child with A$AP Rocky. Ms. Rachel explained she saw a DM from an account with the handle @badgalriri and assumed it was some influencer with a cute drawn profile photo. “I was like, ‘Wow this person has so many followers,’” Rachel told Kylie Kelce, teasing that the black-and-white sketch used by Rihanna as her profile image threw her off. Only after asking friends and coworkers if they recognized the sketch did Rachel realize the message originated from the “Umbrella” singer. “I was like, ‘Wow,’” Rachel said, describing the moment of recognition.
This is delightful in its awkwardness yet perfectly plausible. Instagram’s message requests feature hides DMs from people you don’t follow, funneling them into a separate folder that many users ignore. Ms. Rachel’s candid admission is refreshingly human: she is famous for teaching toddlers to sing and count, not for navigating celebrity social media etiquette. She shares children Thomas, 7, and Susannah, 3 months, with husband Aron Accurso, and clearly has enough on her plate without monitoring every incoming message from global superstars.
There’s also context worth noting about how the internet reacts to celebrity opinions. Ms. Rachel recently stepped in to defend Olivia Munn after Munn said she doesn’t let her children watch certain kids’ shows. That comment sparked extreme backlash and even death threats toward Munn and her husband John Mulaney, prompting Rachel to publicly appeal for kindness, saying, “Please be kind to Olivia & her precious family.” Rachel added that she and Munn have been in touch and are choosing kindness — a tidy piece of public relations and basic humanity in one.
Meanwhile, the notion that an A-list star’s message could be ignored for months exposes how celebrity interactions can be ordinary mistakes rather than fanfare-filled connections. Ms. Rachel’s story joins a parade of recent celeb confessions that remind us celebrities are people who misread texts, exaggerate memories, and occasionally get called out for strange takes. The news also offers a small lesson for anyone hoping to connect with a public figure: check your message requests, people. Social platforms are not intuitive by default.
This mix-up is small but telling: it humanizes both women and points to how mistakes spread online into viral narratives. Ms. Rachel’s honesty about the mishap and her subsequent outreach to Olivia Munn show she prefers kindness to cancel culture, which is worth noting when influencers and stars are constantly leveraged as cultural cudgels. If you were hoping for a juicy feud — sorry, there isn’t one; just a sheepish “oops” and a reminder that DMs are messy.
Want more celeb slip-ups and clarifications? Stick around; the next surprise is always a DM away. Well, now you finally understand!
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! Online, Not Gonna Lie podcast, People Magazine
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
