Saturday was a big night for A$AP Rocky, as he made his Saturday Night Live debut as the musical guest, with Finn Wolfhard taking Season 51 hosting duties for the evening. Naturally, Rihanna was present to support her partner of five years going live from New York on the 2026 TV schedule, and while she might not have been the one on stage, she certainly has people talking after video of her walking out of her hotel showed her getting snippy with her bodyguard.
In the viral video, Rihanna is exiting the Four Seasons hotel to get in a waiting car. Her bodyguard was walking in front of her, and rather than holding the doors for her to walk through, he let them start to close behind him, which they did — right on the nine-time Grammy winner. Check out her reaction below:
Rihanna reacts to being hit by a door after her bodyguard fails to hold it:“Such a gentleman you are.” pic.twitter.com/4SIWNnjoAQJanuary 17, 2026
The singer was fixing her hair and not paying attention to the doors, as she seemed to assume someone would keep them open for her to walk through. After the doors hit her, she hilariously paused in apparent disbelief before saying sarcastically to the bodyguard:
Such a gentleman you are.
Pour one out for chivalry, ladies and gentlemen.
I’m just kidding. Sure, there’s a debate to be had over whether or not a man should be expected to hold a door for a woman — or more appropriately, if someone should expect that from a person who’s hired to protect them. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Rihanna and most other celebrities, regardless of gender, are accustomed to having doors opened and held for them, as her bodyguard does when she gets into the vehicle.
Also, with paparazzi gathered outside of the hotel, it’s possible the bodyguard was more concerned with keeping them a safe distance from the artist and assumed the person who held the door for him would continue to do so for Rihanna.
Either way, fans were amused at her response to having the doors close on her, and they all seemed to have the same reaction:
- She fired him already – 1MINUTETIP
- lol you’re fired – supa_raw
- Yea he’s fired – MartinezOnChain
- I think he’s fired – Clarissa_Krypto
- yeah he’s terminated effective that car ride – MeeSowCorny
Hopefully that was the only snafu in Rihanna’s evening, as she watched A$AP Rocky perform “Punk Rocky,” “Helicopter” and the title track from his new album Don’t Be Dumb on the SNL stage.
Elsewhere on the broadcast, which saw host Finn Wolfhard reference Will’s big coming out scene from Stranger Things Season 5, A$AP Rocky joined in a different sketch that included surprise guest Sabrina Carpenter, which you can see below:
Could this mean A$AP Rocky could return as a double threat to host and be the musical guest in a future season? Only time will tell.
If you missed the rapper’s performances or any other part of the January 17 episode, it’s available to stream with a Peacock subscription, and tune in at 11:30 p.m. ET January 24 on NBC to see what Saturday Night Live has to offer next.
