Bling Empire star Kane Lim with Rihanna at Fenty event

A deep dive into the friendship between Kane from Bling Empire and Rihanna

He’s an ambassador for Fenty and says they’ve known each other for years

2 years ago

New Bling Empire has just dropped, and the cast are back up to their old tricks of name-dropping all over the place again. But this season, they’ve really upped their game with celeb friendships. In season three of Bling Empire, Kane Lim casually mentions that he’s mates with the actual Rihanna, and is working with her.

So you’re probably very desperate to know the ins and outs of this relationship, how it came about, and what exactly Kane does with Fenty. Here’s a full rundown.

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Bling Empire cast member Kane is an ambassador for Fenty, the beauty brand Rihanna owns

During Bling Empire season three, Kane says he is working with Rihanna. He is in fact the first southeast Asia ambassador and face of Fenty, which is a pretty big deal.

Speaking of his partnership, Kane said: “I feel very humbled and grateful to be partnering with Fenty Beauty. I have to pinch myself to even think that I am partnering with such an iconic brand founder and brand. I’ve always looked up to Rihanna – not just for her music but as a person. I love that she is unapologetically herself and really ‘sees’ everyone, regardless of their race, background, religion. I love that as an Asian man, I’m able to join forces with a brand created by such a strong black woman. I love the significance of that partnership and the strength of that community.”

Speaking to People about what his collab means, Kane explained it’s about celebrating the Black and Asian communities. “Conversations about me working with Fenty first came about during the height of both the Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements,” he said. “[Rihanna] is one of the few huge icons that really marched with us and that meant a lot to us. I told her, ‘This is bigger than the brand, this is bigger than Fenty. This is bigger than me, this is bigger than you. It’s elevating both communities. The more people see us together, the more it breaks stigmas.'”

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Kane says he and Rihanna have known each other for years

So, how the hell did this partnership even come about? Kane has said he and Rihanna have been speaking for years, and have been DMing on Instagram since he’s been on the show. He told People: “When season one of Bling dropped, She [Rihanna] was like, ‘So, when is season two coming out?’ From there, we’d DM emojis and fun stuff. She’s the sweetest person and when this came about I said, ‘You helped me a lot.’ This just means so much to me.”

He told Pop Sugar he’s known Rihanna for “seven, eight years on social media” and they’ve met a few times in person at events. “I saw her before she gave birth. We had a really nice, private moment,” he said. “I gave her something, and I said I wanted to thank her for really helping me. I said, ‘This is bigger than a campaign. You’re actually helping me in terms of my personal life as well. You helped me find confidence, and it’s my turn to share that with the world.’ I feel a responsibility now to be able to share this experience with someone. I’m super excited for the future.”

Season three of Bling Empire is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.