Carmelo Anthony Explains His Viral Rihanna Met Gala Meme: Watch

Carmelo Anthony has finally explained the context behind the photo of him and Rihanna that went on to become a viral meme in the mid-2010s. He cleared the air during the Thursday (Jan. 16) episode of 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, where he detailed the situation that originated from a 2014 Met Gala afterparty.

Anthony claimed on the podcast that Rihanna blew up his spot when all he wanted was an area to chill at the party with no cameras, which is why he’s seen giving her a side-eye as she poses for photographers, and that’s how the “Risk It All” meme was born.

“It was after the Met, we already in there having a good time. Every time a celebrity come in, the cameras go crazy,” Melo said. “I finally walk in and get through the cameras and sit down. Now I found my comfort zone … Ri walks in and [the] cameras go crazy.”

The former NBA superstar continued: “There’s only one area to go to and I’m like, ‘Please don’t come over here.’ The flashes going, so I put my head down, and I look up and she’s right there posing and the cameras is going.”

Melo was married to Lala Anthony and playing for the New York Knicks in 2014, while Rihanna was between her Unapologetic and Anti albums.

Anthony and Ri’s “Risk It All” meme has withstood the test of time, and still gets resurfaced on social media even more than a decade later.

Watch Melo discuss the Rihanna meme in the clip below.