Source Addresses Drake’s Relationship With 20-Year-Old Suede Brooks After Sparking Dating Rumors In St. Tropez
Are they just friends?
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock / Twitter Canadian rapper Drake was seen vacationing in St. Tropez with a woman who was immediately identified as YouTube star Suede Brookes.
On the coast, just to the south of France, Drake and Suede spent the day Wednesday, July 21, 2022, yacht hopping and sharing laughs before finally ending the day by partying at the beachside bar, Club 55.
Who is Suede Brooks? The social media influencer who was spotted with Drake in St. Tropez.
Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 20-year-old influencer boasts 1.5 million followers on Instagram and just under the same amount on TikTok.
A source told Entertainment Tonight that Drake has been hanging out with the social media influencer in St. Tropez for several days.
She has been keeping her escapade in St. Tropez pretty hush-hush — only posting on her Instagram story once to show postcards that are themed for the popular vacation spot.
While it may be a bit of a shock to fans of the individual stars, this actually isn’t the first time they’ve hung out as they have a lot of friends in common.
The 35-year-old rapper sported white shorts and a beige tee while Suede matched him in a white two-piece bikini and a colorful button-down a few sizes too big — maybe Drake’s?
"They're having fun together. They are sweet, whispering in each other's ears and laughing," the source told Entertainment Tonight. “Their friends think they make a cute couple and have been rooting for them to hang out more."
Suede Brooks may be dating Richie Akiva, a friend of Drake's.
Other fans have claimed, across social media, that the model isn't dating Drake but his hanging out with his entourage because she is dating Richie Akiva.
Akiva is the CEO of Butter Group, the management group behind several of New York City's most famous nightlife venues including 1Oak.
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Akiva has been seen with Brooks and Drake.
Suede Brooks is best known as a YouTuber and model.
Her YouTube channel, which she says she created as a “coping mechanism” after being bullied in school now has over 335 thousand subscribers and hosts daily vlogs, beauty tips, and reaction videos.
While she hasn’t uploaded anything on her YouTube channel in the last year, you can still find one of her videos that tells her story about how she used to be bullied in school.
“I was severely bullied throughout middle school, seventh grade was when I hit an all-time low,” she said in the video. “I was going to things to escape — I was going to drugs, I was going to other horrible things that I don’t even want to get into.”
She talks about how her successful YouTube channel garnered her tens of thousands of dollars at the age of fifteen — as her parents were going through a divorce — and decided that she would leave her home.
Suede admits that her ego got the best of her during her teenage years and led her to an unfulfilling lifestyle that would ultimately stunt her maturity and hurt her relationship with her parents, but wishes to rectify that.
“I'm an activist for Anti-Bullying and try to speak about it every opportunity I get, to help others get through similar experiences,” reads the description of her YouTube channel.
Despite the social media silence on their potential fling, fans stand alongside their friends in the hopes that a spark will ignite their relationship for the future.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Since graduating from Rutgers University, he spends most of his free time gaming or playing Quadball. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.