After months of dodging pregnancy speculation, Halle Bailey and boyfriend DDG confirmed the birth of their first child, a son named Halo, at the top of the year. The shock of a photo showing the new parents’ hands embracing that of their newborn came with a tongue-and-cheek remark from the singer, who acknowledged that hawk-eyed people were relentless with their pursuit of definitive proof she had become a mother.

“Even though we’re a few days into the new year, the greatest thing that 2023 could have done for me was bring me my son… Welcome to the world, my Halo. The world is desperate to know you,” she captioned the Jan. 6 post.

Since then, she has shared snippets from her underwater Mermaid-themed maternity shoot, footage of her dancing with her sister Chloe and a behind-the-scenes look at how an image was photoshopped to remove her pregnant belly. Halle has been the subject of critical comments from people claiming she lied about her pregnancy and gaslit fans for months, only to now welcome them into her motherhood experience.

The songstress clapped back at one of the remarks on Sunday (Jan. 28). Halle tweeted, “I never lied or even said anything about it, honey; making a joke about my nose was the farthest I went. I’ll never understand why you are mad [that] I protected my own peace. Wouldn’t you do the same? And I’m gonna share my pics now if I want to because my son is here safely. If you don’t wanna see it, just keep scrolling, baby. [Laugh out loud], God bless you!”

Soon after, she wrote, “[Laugh out loud], my hormones have been on 10 recently, so I’m gonna go back to staying off Twitter. Love you all.” But before leaving, she confirmed plans to release new music following the Grammys. Her first single as a solo act, “Angel,” came out in August 2023. The record scored a nomination in the tight race for Best R&B Song alongside Coco Jones’ “ICU,” Victoria Monét’s “On My Mama,” SZA’s “Snooze” and Robert Glasper’s “Back To Love” featuring Sir.

The awards ceremony, whose list of nominees is dominated by female artists this year, airs on Feb. 4 from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.