Shakira and NBA Star Jimmy Butler Step Out for Dinner Date in London
Things could be heating up for Shakira and Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler.
Shakira, 46, and Butler, 33, were spotted enjoying a low-key dinner in London at Novikov Restaurant & Bar on Wednesday evening, arriving separately just after 10 p.m. The pair also went their separate ways at the end of the night -- just minutes apart, around 1:30 a.m. -- with the NBA player's security team escorting the "Hips Don't Lie" singer to her car.
Inside the hot spot, a source says the duo was "looking cozy" as they enjoyed sushi and cocktails.
The apparent date night comes after fans speculated about a potential romance between the two earlier this year. Amid Shakira's recent move to Miami, Florida, she and Butler began engaging with each other on Instagram while the Colombian superstar has attended a number of his basketball games.
Shakira poured fuel on the fire by posting an acrostic poem on her Instagram Story in late May, amid the Miami Heat's seven-game playoff round against the Boston Celtics. "Heroic, Extraordinary, Awesome, Team," she wrote, spelling "HEAT."
Butler has previously been linked to Shay Mitchell and Selena Gomez. He shares a 3-year-old daughter, Rylee, with his ex, Kaitlin Nowak.
It's been one year since Shakira announced her separation from her partner of more than a decade, Gerard Piqué, amid allegations of cheating. The "Waka Waka" singer shares sons Milan, 10, and Sasha, 8, with the retired 36-year-old soccer player.
Shakira's boys recently made an appearance in their mom's "Acróstico" music video, adorably singing and playing piano.
The music video shows Sasha and Milan's room being packed up, seemingly due to Shakira's split from their father. The lyrics of the song match that theme, as Shakira sings a love letter to her kids and tells them that they make her feel better amid challenging times.
Back in May, Shakira brought her kids on a night out with newly single Gisele Bündchen and her children -- Benjamin, 13, and Vivian, 10 -- following the model's split from Tom Brady.
Shakira's recent outing with Butler comes as the singer is set to be recognized as an "Agent of Change" at Univision's Premios Juventud.
The award recognizes the singer's charitable work with children's education, nutrition and the arts. Univision also cited her focus on female empowerment within each cause, and her Fundacion Pies Descalzos (Barefoot Foundation) in Colombia. The organization works to ensure all Colombian children have access to education.
"My dream is to be able to continue growing and make many more schools, get more resources from both the government and the private sector, and that every day more people understand that education is really that 'Agent of Change,'" Shakira told TV presenter Alejandra Espinoza in an interview. "We have also seen it, I have seen it with my own eyes, since we started working with the foundation, we have accompanied children who live in conditions of extreme poverty and conflict and they are children who today are already adolescents, who have graduated and they're in college. They've transformed their lives and they have left or at least manage to have the opportunities or the tools to get out to, break that vicious circle of poverty."
Shakira's interview with Espinoza will air in full on Univision's PRIMER IMPACTO on July 13 at 5 p.m. ET. The Premios Juventud will air July 20 at 7 p.m. ET.
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