BEYONCE ‘IS A COWARD’
HIP HOP STAR TURNS ON SINGER OVER CHEATING SCANDAL
IN YEARS TO COME, 2016 will no doubt be remembered as Beyoncé’s imperial phase. Since releasing her explosive visual album Lemonade in April, she’s won the best critical acclaim of her career, launched a world tour, ‘slayed’ countless times at awards ceremonies and apparently repaired her fractured relationship with husband Jay Z.
That’s without mentioning that the record has arguably become the most speculated upon in history, addressing the persistent rumours that Jay had been unfaithful throughout their marriage. Fans watched as the singer declared: Today I regret the night I put that ring on, and asked her husband, Who the f*** do
you think I am? You aint married to no average bitch, boy, before throwing her wedding ring into the camera and tearfully attempting suicide. More than four months later, shock waves are still being felt across the A list.
Fuelled by the now infamous lyric He only want me when I’m not there. He better call Becky with the good hair, conjecture continues over who the album’s ‘other woman’ could be, with many believing ‘Becky’ to be Rachel Roy. The fashion designer was said to have been at the heart of ‘Liftgate’ – in which Beyoncé’s sister Solange was filmed physically attacking Jay Z in a lift at the Met Gala in 2014, supposedly because of his indiscretions. Then, just one day after Lemonade was released, Rachel was accused of outing herself as Becky when she uploaded a photo on Instagram captioned ‘Good hair don’t care’.
When Rachel’s icloud and Gmail accounts were later hacked and her phone number changed without her consent, the LAPD were drafted in to investigate whether Beyoncé fans were responsible. Neither Beyoncé or Jay Z have addressed the rumours.
Now, speaking exclusively to Grazia, Rachel’s ex-husband Damon Dash has revealed the extent of what his family has endured in the wake of the scandal.
Damon, who co-founded Jay Z’s first record label, Roc-a-fella Records, before the former business partners split acrimoniously, said at the launch of his own TV network Damon Dash TV, ‘They are cowards. They should have stepped up and said something.’
He also slammed the couple after revealing that his two daughters with Rachel, Tallulah Ruth and Ava, have been trolled and bullied on social media following the rumours about their mother. ‘Adults can go and harass a kid on behalf of an R’N’B singer? It was like sexual abuse, the trolls should have been put in jail for that, it was crazy. I was disappointed Beyoncé and Jay didn’t say anything.’
Rachel has since commented: ‘I respect love, marriages, families
‘THEY SHOULD HAVE STEPPED UP AND SAID SOMETHING’
and strength. What shouldn’t be tolerated by anyone, no matter what, is bullying, of any kind,’ and has denied that the song refers to her.
But the scandal has reopened a longstanding feud between Jay Z and Damon, who split from Rachel in 2009 after four years of marriage.
The former colleagues are said to have fallen out in 2004 after Def Jam Recordings bought their label Roc-a-fella, one of the most famous hip hop labels of the ’90s. It closed, with Jay Z then becoming CEO at his own label Roc Nation.
Damon later commented of the time, ‘I thought the way Jay carried things was a betrayal to the company. I just felt like Roc-a-fella should exist.’
The producer went on to work on the clothing company Rocawear with Rachel, and has helped advance the careers of Wiz Khalifa and Kanye West. In 2003, he worked with Victoria Beckham on her ill-fated hip hop album, which never saw release.
Damon admitted he had ‘got a little bit of therapy’ after the release of Lemonade. But when asked to address the rumours of a fling between Rachel and Jay, he declined.
In comments that will no doubt add fuel to the theory that Rachel is ‘Becky’, he told Grazia, ‘I don’t care what Rachel did – I don’t agree with a lot of things she does.
‘I have kids by that woman, so if I ever disrespect their mum it will hurt my kids. I cannot air it out the way I would like to.
‘I love my children, but there are definitely things that are being done which I would not expect of a regular human. But I am a gentleman, so I will not be hard on her.’
And the controversy looks set to continue. Grazia has previously reported that Beyoncé and Jay are believed to have worked on a joint record. Now, insiders say that the pair are gearing up to release a companion to Lemonade – Champagne. The visual album is said to deal with themes of marriage counselling, trust issues, celebrity and regret.
Rumours about the album first surfaced in 2014, before the producer Detail confirmed that it existed at the Grammy Awards in 2015. It is said to have been completed in May.
Meanwhile, Damon is developing a ‘brutally honest’ TV series about the rise and fall of Roc-a-fella, which he has compared to the recent series The People vs OJ Simpson. The show will apparently detail his relationship with Rachel as well as behind-thescenes dealings with Jay.
We have a feeling that there might be more revelations to come…
‘I RESPECT LOVE, MARRIAGES, FAMILIES... WHAT SHOULDN’T BE TOLERATED IS BULLYING’