After the tragic death of “TWELVE TWELVE” rapper and former college basketball player Cliff Dixon on March 21, “We Found Love” singer Rihanna, 30, posted a touching tribute for the man she used to hang out with. Ri Ri posted an Instagram Story on March 22, one day after Cliff’s death, with a photo of the passed rapper. She captioned the photo, “Still in shock about this man. Rest Easy Cliff @cldtoon,” she said with a broken heart emoji.
Rihanna’s Instagram Story came after news broke that Cliff was shot and killed in Atlanta outside SL Lounge, according to the Georgia Chamblee Police Department’s official statement. He was shot at his birthday celebration – Cliff was born on March 17, 1987, making him 32 years old when he was killed. The details of Cliff’s shooter remains unknown, and the Chamblee Police Department told HollywoodLife they’re “in the early stages of the investigation.”
Cliff and Rihanna were spotted hanging out with one another in 2014 by attending 30-year-old basketball player Kevin Durant’s Fourth of July party together, but his most recent relationship was with Love & Hip Hop star Erica Mena, 31. Erica and Cliff dated for 10 months, and broke up toward the end of 2018. Erica also shared a tribute to Cliff: “We all deal with so much. You dealt with a lot. I’m so sorry this happened, you didn’t deserve this. Rest in forever peace. Watch over your blood sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and your mommy. I know they are so broken now.”
We can’t even begin to imagine the pain that Cliff’s loved ones are going through right now. While stars like Rihanna and Erica shared their tributes publicly, they’re probably dealing with mourning the man who was once in their lives in their own way privately, too. Rest in peace Cliff.