Tbt to when Adele’s album 30 came out in November 2021 and sent us all into a collective spiral lol. Honestly? I think it’s safe to say that we as a society still haven’t recovered! While the project masterpiece is largely about her divorce, Adele is actually in a great place these days when it comes to dating and relationships.
In case you hadn’t noticed her wildly cute IG pics or romantic trip to Italy last summer, Adele is dating Rich Paul. They’ve been spotted courtside together (the gold standard for celebs going public with relationships), they attended a friend’s party looking all kinds of glam, and they’re making no effort to hide their ’ship—which is kinda new for notoriously private Adele!
The singer has even opened up about dating Rich in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying they met on the dance floor at a friend’s birthday years ago and that @Deuxmoi broke the news of their relationship before she had a chance to tell her friends. “I didn’t really tell many of my friends at the beginning because I wanted to keep it to myself,” she said. “None of them believed it!”
She also opened up about the relationship to Vogue, saying Rich is “just so fucking funny” and she doesn’t “feel anxious or nervous or frazzled” around him. Instead, “it’s quite the opposite. It’s wild.”
Most recently, the singer gushed about Rich in the September 2022 issue of Elle. In the cover story, Adele said, “I’ve never been in love like this. I’m obsessed with him.” I mean…I’m obsessed with this relationship. But as if that weren’t enough, Adele also denied any rumors that she and Rich were married but still professed alllll of her feels for him, exclaiming, “I’m not married! I’m just in loooove! I’m happy as I’ll ever be. I might as well be married.” Swoon.
While Adele says she didn’t mean to go public with the relationship, she loves being around Rich. Which means the time has clearly come to get to know him better because it’s important that we keep our best friends’ boyfriends close, ya know?
Rich Paul Is an Incredibly Successful Sports Agent
As in, he represents LeBron James, not to mention a ton of other NBA stars, through his company Klutch Sports Group. His first public outing with Adele was actually at Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Phoenix—and apparently, they talked about the outing ahead of time. As Adele told Vogue, “He was like, ‘What are people going to say?’ And I was like, ‘That you signed me. As an athlete. You’re my agent.’ And he was like, ‘Okay, cool.’”
With clients like LeBron, Rich is obviously super successful. In fact, a quote from a profile of Rich in the New Yorker describes him as being “absolutely unrelenting in getting his players what they want” and Forbes says he has negotiated more than $1 billion in active deals for LeBron James as well as Ben Simmons and John Wall. Dang.
He Met LeBron in the Coolest Way
Like, they legit met and bonded while waiting for a flight to Atlanta at the Akron-Canton Airport in 2002. LeBron (who was just 17) spotted Rich (who was just 21) wearing a Houston Oilers jersey and asked where he got it. They ended up staying in touch and talking “basketball, football, and the greatest that have ever played the game.” Rich says they also talked “just about being a Black kid growing up in the inner city and the struggles that come with that.”
Rich eventually started working for LeBron in 2003, and the rest is history. “I have always felt that he had a purpose, and that’s why I kept him around,” LeBron told the New Yorker. “I knew he was going to be something more than even what he thought he could possibly be at the time. It was just a feeling I had.”
He’s Writing an Memoir
It’s called Lucky Me and it’ll be published by Roc Lit 101, Roc Nation’s publishing division. The book will chronicle Rich’s early life in Cleveland (where his father owned a store called R & J Confectionery) before his eventual move to Beverly Hills.
“Lucky Me is more than my story,” he told the Hollywood Reporter. “‘Lucky Me’ is the story of every young Black man who grew up like me. I want to use my story to uplift and inspire those who lived this and educate those who didn’t. I cannot tell you what it means to partner with my friend and mentor Jay-Z on this project. ‘Lucky Me’ was the name of the book before I even spoke with Jay because his music was my life’s soundtrack.”
Like Adele, Rich Is a Parent
Rich has three kids and Adele has one—and both of them keep their children pretty much out of the spotlight. But a source told E! News that “they have both met each other’s kids but have been keeping it low-key around them. They both stay at each other’s places in L.A. and are pretty much inseparable.”
…Aaand He Might Want to Have More 👀
During an interview with E! News, Rich hinted at the possibility of adding members to his family as he discussed having “more kids.” Juicy intel incoming:
“As a young dad, growing a business, it was pretty tough,” he told the publication. “But now, looking as an older dad and my kids being much older, and obviously, if I was to have more kids…I’m looking forward to being a different dad, a more patient dad.” Okay, okay. Noted!
He’s Obsessed With Movies
Rich is a total pop culture nerd and has been since he was a kid, when he watched a ton of movies and TV shows and—per the New Yorker—“saw them as subjects to be mastered as much as relished.”
“I remember when Bloodsport came out—I used to watch that movie over and over again,” he said. “I was a big Ninja Turtles fan.”
Yes, He and Adele Are Insta Official
Just in case you were wondering, they have indeed showed up together on Adele’s grid—swipe right:
In May 2022, the singer uploaded this beyond-sweet carousel of the two of them in all kinds of cute poses: relaxing with matching shirts, laughing in a McDonald’s, kissing in a fancy room complete with a fireplace…you get the gist. The series of images ends with a pic of a fortune cookie that says, “You have found good company—enjoy.” What a good way to sum them up! ❤️
Rich casually dropped these pics on his grid in November 2021 too:
He’s Traveled Far and Wide With Adele
Just this past summer, the iconic singer was spotted on vacation in Porto Cervo, Italy, with Rich and a bevy of v fun-looking friends, per People. Yes, she was smiling—beaming, actually! Ah, what love has done for the celeb. Just a few weeks prior to the trip, she also opened up about how her beau has helped her step out of her comfort zone in an interview for BBC Sounds’s Desert Island Discs. “I think now that the relationship that I’m in, he’s like, ‘If you want to go to that restaurant, you should go and try the food at that restaurant, and if you want to go to this birthday party, then you should be going. You can’t miss out on these things—what’s the worst that could happen?’” she gushed. Okay, obsessed is an understatement!
And He Was Even Serenaded by Her for His B-Day 👀
Yes, you absolutely read that right lol. Turns out, Rich Paul celebrated his 41st birthday in the absolute most iconic way possible: at the Adele show in Las Vegas. And not only did he get to bear witness to the legendary singer absolutely crushing it, but she even took a few moments during her concert IRL at Caesars Palace to sing “Happy Birthday” to him!!!
“I love you more than life itself—we wish you happy birthday,” Adele said from the stage before breaking out into song along with the entire crowd. Tear ducts = activated.
Anyway! Cutest. Couple. Ever. Can’t wait for an album all about their love.