Matt Barnes, the basketball player making headlines lately since claiming that he dated R&B superstar Rihanna, is maintaining that he and Riri had a thing in the past.
Appearing at The Jim Rome Show recently, the Memphis Grizzly insisted he is telling the truth about him seeing the "B—h better Have My Money" hit maker.
"You live and you learn. When you're in a situation like this and, you know, you just learn. You just got to keep stuff to yourself obviously. But the way I'm putting it right now, I'm too grown to lie, you know what I mean. It is what it is, I'm going to let this blow by like everything else blows by," Barnes said, according to StarPulse.
Relationship rumors between the Athletes vs. Cancer founder and the singer first erupted when the former hinted dating the latter during a TMZ interview saying, "Rihanna's my friend right now. So, uh, we'll see where it goes."
It wasn't long until Rihanna slapped Barnes with a social media announcement publicly shaming him and denying ever meeting or knowing him, HNGN reported.
The songstress posted a picture of Barnes on Instagram with a series of hashtags that include, "#shesnotthatintoyou," "#shesnotintoyouatall," "#shesneverevenmetyou ,""#thisactuallyhurtmyfeelings" and "#defamationofcharacter."
And judging by the hashtags Riri wrote, it seems that she felt insulted having been even linked to Barnes. Lucky for Matt though, fellow basketball player and pal Glen "Big Baby" Davis came to his rescue to vouch for his credibility.
"I don't agree with Rihanna. Matt Barnes is an honest, standup guy...He really knows her. He knows her. He knows her. He's not lying about that. Why would he lie about that? He's a grown man. Why would he lie about that? We know Rihanna is Rihanna, why would you lie about that?" Davis said during Wednesday's ESPN's "His and Hers" with Jemele Hill and Michael Smith, News Everyday has learned.
He added, "She has her reasons...But you have a relationship where you guys know each other. Don't bash him. I wouldn't do that to somebody I text and that I know. Kudos to Matt."
