Halle Bailey finally offered her fans an inside look at her private pregnancy, weeks after welcoming her first child, Halo, with rapper DDG.
The 23-year-old singer-actor channeled her films “The Color Purple” (quite literally) and “The Little Mermaid” in a short clip of her maternity photo shoot shared Monday to her Instagram account. The moody clip, Bailey’s first post since announcing baby Halo’s arrival, shows the singer wearing two baby-bump-bearing outfits as she swims and poses underwater.
“🧜🏽♀️missing my belly already 💜but i obviously had to do underwater pics 😉,” Bailey captioned her video.
Monday’s post was the first time Bailey publicly shared photos of her baby bump — and the comments were divided. Stars including Cynthia Erivo, Gabrielle Union and expectant mother Kali Uchis were among the people cheering on Bailey for sharing pieces of her pregnancy. Supportive fans also expressed their excitement for new music.
“Yessss !!!!!!!,” Uchis wrote.
“Beautiful xx,” Erivo commented.
Other Instagram users, however, weren’t as moved. A handful of followers criticized Bailey for staying quiet about her pregnancy, despite months of rumors.
“Lmao don’t share it now,” commented one follower.
“What’s the point of sharing it now? Like I don’t get it,” said another Instagram user.
“Girl we do not care anymore,” said a third follower.
Bailey and DDG (real name Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr.) sparked pregnancy rumors in September 2023. After months of posting seemingly baby-bumpless photos and videos in the fall, Bailey announced on Jan. 6 that she and DDG welcomed their baby boy — confirming what fans already knew.
“the greatest thing that 2023 could have done for me, was bring me my son.. welcome to the world my halo 🥰👼🏽 ✨,”Bailey captioned her Instagram announcement. “The world is desperate to know you 😉🤣♥️.”
Before the arrival of their son, “Famous” rapper DDG, 26, was also on the defense about the rumors. Less than a week before Bailey broke the baby news, DDG told fans on Snapchat that he and his girlfriend were not expecting a child.
“I don’t know why people is so invested in what I got going on or what we got going on. Mind your business,” he said, Us reported. “Go outside. Touch some grass. Go do a cartwheel in the backyard or something. It’s weird. I genuinely don’t be understanding.”
Days after, he told his fans otherwise, releasing a YouTube vlog titled: “I’m A Dad Now…”
In the 14-minute video, DDG reflected on entering fatherhood, bragged about his newborn son’s looks, acknowledged that he trolled his fans and addressed months of speculation.
“A lot of y’all should quit your jobs and start looking into detective work,” he said, “‘cause y’all [would] do pretty good at it.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times