If the tabloids are to be believed, Angelina Jolie has been spending a fair amount of time lately with British rapper and activist Akala. Gossip sites have been speculating about the pair for months, but dating rumors ramped up this week when they were spotted in London at the same time. The Sun reports that they’ve been on “a string of secret dates,” while the Daily Mail claims Akala has introduced Jolie to his friends and family.
Speculation around the nature of Jolie and Akala’s relationship began in May, when In Touch claimed they’d been dating for over a year, having connected over “their interest in activism” and “passion for travel and discovering different cultures.” The tabloid appears to have based these claims on the duo’s reported 2023 outing to the Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica, along with the actress’s daughters Zahara and Shiloh. Since then, a handful of conflicting reports have insisted that Jolie and Akala are just friends with mutual humanitarian interests. By August, the rumored romance had been shot down by Us Weekly and People, with the latter reporting that the two had been friends for years and that Akala was actually dating his business partner, Chanelle Newman.
However, a number of recent sightings have kicked off another round of dating rumors. Last month, Akala was spotted at the U.S. premiere of Jolie’s latest film, Maria, at the New York Film Festival, where The Sun claims he was seen hugging the actress’s son Pax. Shortly after, “Page Six” placed both parties at a New York soiree at Atelier Jolie (Akala is also pictured at the event on the brand’s Instagram page). And now The Sun has gone as far as to claim that while in London for the premiere of Maria last week, Jolie snuck the rapper into her suite at the Corinthia two nights in a row — prompting a source close to Jolie to reiterate to People that she is “close friends with Akala and his partner.” Stressing that Akala’s partner “has also been at every event” Jolie and Akala have been spotted at, the source added, “Angelina remains focused on her family and is not dating at this time.”
Even if they are just friends, the Daily Mail claims Akala has been “educating Angelina on Britain’s colonial past and the country’s prominent Black figures.” Seems like a net positive to me?