On the big screen, Ethan Hawke is capable of anything. As the incredible actor he is (see our ranking of his best movies), he can take on any character, but in real life, he is a man with weaknesses, just like the best of us. After Rihanna's iconic Super Bowl LVII performance, the star of The Black Phone (one of the best horror movies in recent years) took to his social media to share a hilarious throwback to a time when he made his son switch seats with him so he could talk to the Grammy winner. While many sounded off in response to the post, one of the best comments came from Gwyneth Paltrow, who chimed in with an A+ response.
On Monday, the Moon Knight alum posted to his Instagram a throwback series of images depicting him and his son seated next to Rihanna as they attended the 2015 NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. Hawke started the game sitting one seat away from the "Umbrella" singer, but as the photos show, somewhere during the game, the actor made his son switch his seats so he could chit-chat with the singer. He did accompany the post with a message, jokingly asking for his son's forgiveness for stealing his moment. The caption reads. "After Rihanna’s brilliant half time performance, I’m hoping my son can find it in his heart to forgive a Dad for taking his moment." You can see the image of his son originally in that seat below:
While several commenters thought the incident was funny, actress and Hawke's former Great Expectations costar Gwyneth Paltrow took umbrage with the actor, but not for the reason you would think. The Iron Man actress took issue, not with the actor undercutting his son's moment, but with his posture. The actress jokingly wrote:
Could you sit up straight, for god's sake? You're sitting next to Rihanna!
That's priceless. Paltrow is being funny, obviously, but it was the perfect response to Hawke's throwback pics. We cannot fault the actor for taking his son's seat (or for his slouching) because if you found yourself only separated from Rihanna by one seat and it was your own child who was taking up said chair, what would you do? And I think my posture would be the last thing on my mind if I found myself in that close proximity to the Barbados-born singer.
Green Room actor Mark Webber seemingly agrees. He pointed out that Hawke was right in shooting his shot. He wrote:
😂 The best. Gotta shoot your shot.
Gerald's Game actress Carla Gugino thought the flashback to Hawke and his son's Rihanna meeting was pretty comical. She responded:
😂😂😂🔥
The official account for Old Navy even got in on the action, making a pretty good joke and reference to Rihanna's collab with DJ Khaled. They wrote:
alexa, play "wild thoughts"
That's a… wild, wild, wild… joke coming from the American clothing and accessory retailer known for reasonable prices. See what I did there?
This minor and comical transgression against his son does not encompass who Ethan Hawke is as a parent. In the past, he has gushed over his kids, especially his daughter Maya and her acting prowess. I think we can cut him a little slack for wanting to seat himself next to the pop star.
What do you think? Do you believe Hawke was wrong for making his son switch his seats? Or is Gwyneth correct? If he's going to undercut his kid's moment, the least the actor could do is be more concerned with his hunching in front of the superstar singer.
Rihanna used her Super Bowl performance to announce her pregnancy with a second child with rapper A$AP Rocky, and we want to wish her and her partner all the best while they prepare for another little one. We can only speculate whether or not, in the future, the singer will force her child to give up a seat to sit next to a star she admires. And if that happens, CinemaBlend will be there to report it.
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