Rihanna and Katy's friendship dates all the way back to 2009, and it began after the two bonded over a purse. In a previous interview with Elle magazine, Katy revealed that she complimented Rihanna's Valentino bag and that Rihanna offered to send her one. Katy admitted that she thought it was just an empty promise, but when "Valentine's Day came around, I got a little Valentino bag in the mail from her." The "Firework" singer confessed that from that moment forward, she knew Rihanna was "a woman of her word."
Rihanna also expressed similar sentiments about Katy in the interview, saying, "I'll tell you, you do not find people like her in this industry. She's gorgeous, charming, and so unedited, it's scary. That's what intrigued me most when I first met her: she said it like she saw it. I trust people like that."
Despite a reported rift in 2013 when Rihanna briefly got back together with Chris Brown, the two have remained friends and, most recently, linked up at this year's Met Gala.