The release of the new Little Mermaid movie is now only mere days away, and I hope you’re as excited as I am to see the talented singer and actress Halle Bailey’s take on the classic character. The role has been the pop star’s latest effort to break out of her shell and find her solo voice. In addition to acting, Bailey has predominantly been known for the albums she’s written and performed with older sister Chloe, including The Kids Are Alright and Ungodly Hour. The duo is called Chloe x Halle, and you may be familiar with some of their hits, such as “Do It” and “Forgive Me.” But did you know Bailey has a total cutie on the DL, supporting her as she breaks out of the R&B bubble?
That’s right, Bailey has a boyfriend, and his name is DDG. Even though the star keeps her personal life pretty private, here’s what we know about the couple’s relationship, how they met, and more.
Halle Bailey and DDG have been dating since 2022.
Bailey’s first official public outing with YouTuber and rapper DDG (Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr.) was the BET Awards in 2022, and they have been spotted hand in hand at multiple premieres, including Avatar 2: The Way of Water and Creed III. In recent months, they seem to be taking a more private approach to their relationship, and haven’t been officially photographed at any events since the Vanity Fair Oscars Afterparty on March 12. This could be why Bailey arrived stag to the Little Mermaid red carpet on May 8. Still, she remains incredibly loyal in the media. In an interview with People Magazine on May 17, when the star was asked if DDG had the makings of a prince, she said, “People love to talk about this… Yeah, I would say that.”
There were breakup rumors in February.
The couple made it official on Instagram a few months before in May 2022, when DDG confirmed their romance with a heartfelt birthday post for Bailey. The post has since been deleted, but showed the rapper wearing a pendant with her name. How freaking adorable, am I right? However in February of this year, DDG deleted not only this post, but all posts featuring Bailey from Instagram. The couple also briefly unfollowed each other.
The nexus of the drama was a since deleted tweet from DDG on Feb. 7 that read, “all these girls the same, aint no wayy,” with a crying emoji, according to a screenshot from The Shade Room. Bailey’s older sister, Sky, publicly roasted him for the move on Instagram Live. “Are you dumb? Are you stupid?” she told the audience. She later backtracked on the statement after learning the couple was actually still together.
DDG still fired back on Twitter with a tweet on Feb. 8. “The internet so gullible,” he said with a laughing emoji. There were a few more tweets addressing the drama the following day, including “Nobody cheated on nobody btw. don’t take my tweets too serious.”
Bailey also cleared up some of the drama in her May 23 cover story with Glamour. When asked about her relationship with the rapper, she said, “I appreciate that as I venture into adulthood, I’m able to make my own decisions.” As for the details of her personal life, she added, “For my peace and my sanity, I have to keep that private.” So for now at least, it looks like the couple is still going strong.
Bailey starred in one of DDG’s music videos.
DDG’s premiere album, Valedictorian, was released in 2019. In an interview with BET that year, he claimed to have chosen the title as a celebration of graduating top of his class at International Tech Academy and an homage to his competitive spirit. He eventually carried this energy into creating his own record label in 2020, Zooted Music. He’s since featured Bailey in his work, most notably a steamy cameo in the music video for his song “If I Want You.”
How did Bailey and DDG meet?
The courtship began when the rapper slid into Bailey’s DMs. Amazingly, Bailey had actually been a longtime fan. In an exclusive with Essence in 2022, Bailey revealed she’d been inspired by DDG’s career while following his rise to fame on YouTube, where he posted his original music starting in 2014. “I grew up being on YouTube and would always see the young Black creators and was constantly inspired by them,” she told the magazine. “He was one of them. I completely forgot about him. But then I saw that he was dropping music, and I really gravitated toward this one song. Coincidentally he messaged me — and the rest is history.”
Following the upsetting media firestorm following the announcement of Bailey’s casting, DDG gave a similar sentiment in a segment on NBC, which showed heartwarming videos of young Black girls reacting to the trailer. “I’m very proud of her. And I’m just happy to see it,” DDG said. “I feel like sometimes I’m even more excited than anybody else. Just seeing it and seeing everything that she dreamed of coming to life, it’s really dope.”