It’s never been more acceptable to be unabashedly horny online, particularly during a period when everyone’s been waiting to put their hands on each other. So, of course, when photos drop of attractive celebrities getting frisky in public, it feels like Christmas morning on social media.
The photos in question this week literally arrived like gifts on an otherwise uneventful Sunday afternoon thanks to the Daily Mail. The news outlet caught Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi, pop singer Rita Ora, and actress Tessa Thompson kissing and cozying up to one another outside of Waititi’s home in Sydney the morning after an all-night party.
This new rendezvous comes after Waititi and Ora initially sparked romance rumors a month prior after a photo emerged of the 45-year-old New Zealand filmmaker with his arms around her in a series of photos that also included a selfie with Thompson. The 30-year-old British singer was also spotted bicycling with actor Russell Crowe. Both actors were in Australia shooting Waititi’s upcoming superhero film Thor: Love and Thunder while the singer was filming The Voice Australia. This has also led to speculation that Ora might be making an appearance in the Marvel sequel.
Rumors of Ora and Waititi possibly being an item, including later photos of them strolling down the street together, mostly just raised eyebrows on social media, as the news read like someone pulling random celebrity names out of a hat and not a foreseen development. But the addition of Thompson, one of the most beloved and talked-about actresses on Film Twitter, to this alleged affair seemed to get online users a lot more invested, with many calling it “the biggest plot twist of 2021.”
“Hi, whatever is happening between Taika Watiti [sic], Tessa Thompson and Rita Ora is all I want to talk about today. Thank you,” said one Twitter user.
“Pictures emerging of a three way kiss between Taika Waititi, Tessa Thompson and Rita Ora definitely wasn’t on my 2021 bingo card wtf,” tweeted another.
Others, like writer Bailey Herde, were more blunt in their speculation about the alleged throuple, particularly what might’ve taken place the night before.
“Despite Rita Ora being involved, you really have to respect the ‘morning after our passionate all-night threesome’ energy here,” she posted.
Unexpected celebrity romance news since the start of the new year has been delightfully plentiful and slightly polarizing, between Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde publicizing their romance off the heels of Wilde and actor Jason Sudeikis announcing their split, Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian’s intense PDA, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams’ controversial engagement to her castmate’s ex-husband Simon Guobadia, John Mulaney’s much-maligned coupling with Olivia Munn right after the announcement of his divorce and, of course, Bennifer 2.0, which got an equally uproarious reaction and hilarious meme treatment on Sunday when photos of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck together in Miami had Twitter users wondering what went on the previous night. For the most part, it seems like everyone is at least appreciating the shock value of these headlines. If it’s any indication, the name “Porsha” was trending for more than 24 hours on Twitter—above Israel and Palestine—when her engagement was announced.
Obviously, allegations of polyamorous relationships in Hollywood, particularly ones in which every partner is a recognizable person, are few and far between compared to more socially acceptable monogamous pairings. It’s why fans of Hollywood history are forced to rehash the rumored threesome between singer Eartha Kitt and actors Paul Newman and James Dean over and over again as a testament to the kind of fun most outwardly refined stars are having behind closed doors. Particularly in our current state of Hollywood that’s constantly deemed sexless, it only makes sense that people would lose their minds watching two major players in the characteristically chaste Marvel Cinematic Universe canoodling, and prompt hours of conjecture about threesomes, even if it’s not on-screen—not to mention a later sighting of Thompson kissing an Australian model, who was also present the day after Waititi’s house party, that sent the internet into a frenzy and cemented the actress as having a true Hot Girl Summer.
As for Waititi’s Hot Boy Summer, you might be confused about his status as a single man, considering that his Wikipedia page claims he’s still married. Last March, Page Six reported that he and his wife, and mother of his two daughters, Chelsea Winstanley, who’s also a filmmaker, had quietly separated two years ago. Since then, Waititi has been spotted on dates with Polly Stoker, an assistant on his previous films Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor: Ragnarok. She was even seated next to him at last year’s Oscar ceremony where he won Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit.
Despite how beloved the stylish, eccentric auteur is on the internet, including becoming somewhat of a heartthrob over the past few years, this is the first time his love life is really becoming front-page news. And it seems like it might be a fixture moving forward.
For now, we can only hope that some of this horny energy made it to the pages of the Thor: Love and Thunder script. If not, the press tour for the film is sure to be interesting.
