Does anyone else believe that Beyonce’s Lemonade was just exactly as scandalous as it needed to be to get people interested in the album? If the album was full of references about Jay-Z’s infidelity, for sure, it would have gotten attention. But she dropped the visual album on HBO during Game of Thrones weekend. And people are still OBSESSED. And while The Beyhive loves the album, the real sh-t is going down with Becky With The Good Hair.
Most people believe Becky With the Good Hair is none other than Rachel Roy, also known as Damon Dash’s ex-wife, also known as possibly The Reason why Solange put the beatdown on Jay-Z in the elevator in 2014. Rachel Roy already had to shut down her Instagram because the Beyhive came for her. She even had to tweet about being “bullied.” And now the Beyhive is screwing with her schedule! Yesterday, Rachel pulled out of an appearance at Mastering Your Métier, a NYC event organized by NeueHouse. A rep for the event told media outlets: “Due to a personal emergency, Rachel Roy has had to cancel this evening’s event. Our apologies for any inconvenience.” LOL. The Beyhive was threatening to come to her event and throw lemons at her, what do you want to bet?
Meanwhile, Wendy Williams is spilling some tea (or lemonade) about this whole situation. Wendy famously brought up Rachel Roy during the 2014 Met Gala controversy – Wendy was one of the first people (if not THE first) to theorize/claim that Solange gave Jay-Z the beatdown because he was dealing with Roy in some way and disrespecting his marriage. Well, now Wendy says that Rachel Roy is in on it.
Wendy Williams isn’t buying any of the lemonade that Beyoncé is selling.
“So Rachel Roy, first of all, you’re not this fighting girl,” Williams began. “Unless you’re on Jay Z and Beyoncé’s payroll, and they pay you to mix it up for I guess sales for the Lemonade.”
But that wasn’t the only bit of critique Williams had for Queen B. She continued, “Quite frankly, I wish Beyoncé had held off on the album after Prince. Like, the weekend had blown over. And Bill Cosby, don’t get beside yourself. Long after prince is gone, and Beyoncé and Jay Z are still together, we are going to circle back around and still deal with you.”
Williams also couldn’t help but laugh at all the crazy measures the BeyHive has taken to slam Roy—including changing her Wikipedia page—but she really got a kick out of the fact that they keep confusing her for Rachael Ray.
“They are swarming on our neighbor, Rachael Ray,” Williams explained as she and the celeb chef share the same studio. “Similar name but not the same thing. Like, leave this white lady alone! Rachael is no dumbbell. She used the moment to put out a delicious recipe for lemonade,” Williams concluded, adding. “So stupid. So stupid.”
I think the Roy-is-being-paid theory has legs, but I don’t understand the criticism about airing the special after Prince’s passing. Beyonce and HBO had this Lemonade premiere on the schedule for weeks, and it probably would have been a gigantic hassle to cancel it following Prince’s death. Did the timing come across as a little attention-seeking? For sure, but then again… Beyonce has been holding this album back for MONTHS. Most sources believed she had this completed a while back and she was just holding it for what she thought would be the right time.
Going back to the Rachel-Roy-is-being-paid thing… I don’t know what to think. I don’t know enough about Roy to even get a vibe about whether or not this was all some gigantic misunderstanding or whether she really is Becky With the Good Hair. Here’s my thing: does anyone really believe that if Jay-Z is a cheater, he ONLY cheated with Rachel Roy?
PS… No threadjacking please, we’ll have a post about Rita Ora-as-Becky later this morning.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Lemonade.
Beyoncé and Jay Z are a brand. It’s true without each other they’d still be very successful but with each other they’re Bey and Jay. Everything that they do is calculated and planned. Beyoncé wasn’t just throwing stuff out there without talking to Jay Z first. So it wouldn’t be surprise me in the least if they made Rachael Roy money to be Becky and create all this hype and pr. This is Hollywood after all and anything goes just to get the product recognized and out there.
I agree. And if RR isn’t getting paid cash, she’s certainly getting it in publicity. As the saying goes “no press is bad press” and considering I (and I’m sure many others) had no clue she even existed until all this Becky stuff started, I’d say it’s working quite well.
Plus, Bey’s album is getting tons of free publicity thanks to social media.
I don’t think this woman is being paid to open her life to attack. To have nutty people online threaten her and her family. You never know what sick person is behind a threat. If they would actually carry out those threats. We have seen celebrities hurt/killed by stalkers. So this is not a game. And I don’t imagine this woman would put herself or her children in possible danger for what money or attention. I think Beyonce needs to come out and tell her fans to stop. She as a moral responsibilty to do so IMO. They were attacking Rachel Ray because some of them obviously can’t read. This is getting out of hand and there is nothing funny or powerful about any of it.
Lol, Roy is one of dozens, or hundreds if you count the years of dating before they were married. Jay was not discreet, especially early on, it’s just that up until the elevator incident the tabloids and non-urban gossip sites completely ignored all the Bey and Jay gossip.
It’s not even the first time Beyonce’s sung about him cheating, it’s been a theme since the beginning of her solo career. Not to mention a substantial part of their last tour was devoted to airing this laundry.
Jay has long been rumored to be a cheater, but there was nothing concrete after he got married. I don’t know, you can have ONE person turn your head for some reason. I am happily married for 16 years now, but I was truly tempted to cheat a few years ago. I didn’t, but that one man really made me consider it …
Wendy is like a broken clock, she is bound to be right once a day. I hope people are not going to start acting like she has the inside scoop when she is famously bitter that Beyonce snubbed her radio show and has never shown up on the TV show either.
So we’re talking the exact same thing every 2 years? Booooring
I know it is wrong for the ” Beyhive” to bully Rachel Roy or anyone who dares disrespect “Queen Bev” . But I just have this mental image of Rachel Roy running down the street and a cloud of angry members of the Beyhive chasing her. Meanwhile Queen Bey is back at the hive sipping a glass of lemonade
poor Rachel Ray, is all i’ve got.
Its pretty well known she isn’t nice to her staff or fans so as long as this is just a minor annoyance I don’t feel all that bad for her. The recipe was cute though.
I find it very bothersome that with all that was revealed and highlighted during Lemonade, Rachel Roy is now the focus. We’ll never know for sure who Becky With the Good Hair is. What we do know is that it was ONE line probably used as a metaphor for the other woman, and one who’s existence made Bey feel as if she wasn’t good enough or less than a woman.
Idc about Rachel. Idc about Rita. Let’s talk about the mothers of the slain young black men being dressed as queens. Let’s talk about family and how it can be broken. Lets talk about how your own relationship sometimes ends up being the same as the relationship you saw firsthand as a child. Let’s talk about celebrating the beauty of those who usually aren’t celebrated.
This Rachel Roy stuff is pretty insignificant when you look at the bigger picture and what Beyonce was really trying to reveal here.
Preach! All of this right here. This is the most growth I’ve EVER seen in Beyoncé. Even her wardrobe choices – the African inspired dresses, colors and head-dresses; consciously covering up so her message is not overlooked. But, no, instead we focus on some cotdam Becky.
The mothers with the photos of their sons made me cry. Ever since Trayvon you can no longer ignore what black people have been trying to say about the police and why their communities don’t always cooperate with them. I am always reminded of Trayvon when I see someone in a hoodie or I put one on to run. That case opened my eyes wide and the sad part is a child had to die to wake us all up.
As a mother and step mother to sons I honestly cant imagine their pain and how they have the energy to get out of bed. I imagine every morning they have to remember my baby is dead and we didn’t get justice. I even cry writing about it,
+100000 to all of this.
At the end of the day, Beyonce could have dropped hints beyond the other woman not being black that would have pointed definitively to her identity. The fact that she didn’t suggests that LEMONADE was intended as a mixture of personal and collective experiences of black womanhood – Beyonce’s own marital issues, her parents’, the strength required to withstand betrayal, neglect and mistreatment as a black woman. It works on so many different levels. The fact that people are stuck on ‘who is Becky?’ is a little sad to me.
Lookyloo: the MOST. She’s more aware than ever and people are ignoring what’s most important.
Magnoliarose: isn’t it just heartbreaking? I cannot imagine the pain those women went through and will continue to go through for the rest of their lives. So many of my friends who are raising young black children have to deal with the fear every time their children leave the house. So glad your stepsons have a compassionate mother like you!
Rachel: It’s very sad. This is derailing at its finest. A bigger and more meaningful discussion could be had.
Amen and God Bless.
Oh well, I’m used to everyone choosing to take the easier road of focusing on the scandalous side of things rather than the deep and uncomfortable truths they need to explore.
I will say this thou, long after this nonsense fizzles out this album and this change in Beyonce’s musical style will live on in spoken word, thought, poetry, art and etc. Regarding Prince’s death I had thought that years and years from now when the time comes that yes Beyonce would be one of our great legends BUT with the change in her music and message I suddenly truly feel she CAN hit that icon status.
Where it’s not about how many times she made you dance, but how many times she made you think. (Formation had me reflecting for weeks)
I’m pretty over it as well. Who cares? It’s one line in a song, and one that I thought may have encompassed a lot of women.
Always the voice of reason, AlmondJoy.
Not only am I over it, I never f*cking cared to begin with. After all the talk about Lemonade, I MUST watch it though. That’s the interesting conversation here.
Thanks, Kitten. Your really should watch it when you get the chance. It might not have the same impact because you’ve heard so much about it and most of it wont be a surprise to you. I’m sure you’ll still find it intriguing though. I cried close to the end 🙈
SAME AJ – I thought it odd that Sunday morning Rachel Roy was trending and not Beyonce.
It’s annoying, but she’s spent years training her fans to act like this. All her cryptic clues and hints…It’s her own fans who drove the conversation towards ‘Becky’, and if Beyoncé is half as calculated as her own hype suggests, she had to know this would happen.
From the beginning I’ve suspected Rachel Roy’s involvement. Bey and Jay are a lot of things — and one of those things is “next-level marketers.” Controversy sells; Bey venting about cheating Jay sells WELL. IMO, Rachel Roy def got paid to be Becky.
The Carters wanted to sell this album to as many people as possible. If they’d excluded the “scandal” aspect and marketed the album as simply a love letter to black women (which is WAS! woot!), it wouldn’t have done nearly as well. But now? With the added *gossip* — it’s become something the whole *family* can *enjoy!*
Rachel wasn’t paid. Wendy likes to throw theories out there whether or not they make sense. I don’t really know who Rachel Roy is but I’m under the impression she’s just enough famous and wealthy that she wouldn’t do a publicity stunt like this.
Rachel Roy, now Rita Ora.
Boring.
We need TOP 3 “Becky with the good hair” or TOP 5.
The Beyhive’s ignorance has been put on full blast and I love it. I really hope most of these people are teenagers, because it would be even more disgusting for grown adults to behave themselves so low brow and ratchet over someone they don’t even know. It scares me to know there are so many people that will follow someone blindly and act like they are doing said celebs bidding and make threats to a person and their young daughter in the way they have with Ray, Roy and Ora.
As for Jay &B, yeah I’m voting publicity stunt. We will see them in a few weeks being all loved up for the paps very soon. This isn’t the first time she uses the infidelity rumors to sell records. Next stunt queen theme to be recycled will probably be the “is she/isn’t she” pregnancy rumor.
I don’t think she got paid, I think it was just really wrong timing, if Beyoncé wanted to market this whole thing just as an infidelity and forgiveness album, she could have, but she made this album about so. much. more, and unfortunately, gossip world is more focused in getting to know who the other woman (other women) is.
In a few days, a whole album with so many strong statements, became only about Rachel Roy and Rita Ora, or even Rihanna like some people suggested.
im way too superficial to have sex with a guy like Jay Z. what the hell.
Hhahahaa.
Where you see looks others see $$$ and power.
i see that too obviously and im not a fan of rap music but he clearly has talent in that regard but no thanks.
Perfect comment. And I agree. 😉
Seriously though this woman creates a fascinating piece of feminist art and even addresses the sad issues of young Black men and law enforcement…and her moronic follows take away only an opportunity to go after another woman online (often the wrong woman!). Really? That’s your big moment of activism. Pathetic.
Oh and I just saw on the news this morning that the controversy is NOT hurting Rachel Roy financially at all. She sold out her entire line online as per NY1’s reporting. They are all filling their pockets on this “controversy”. Don’t kid yourself.
I agree with you. It seems obvious to me. And that’s not to take anything away from the visual album itself. The work, in it of itself, is important and profoundly moving. But yeah, let’s not kid ourselves that there isn’t aggressive, subversive — and impressively effective — marketing wizardry going on behind the curtain, too.
I’m sure there are MANY side chicks. But Roy’s Instagram comment put her front and center (idiot). As for Roy getting paid…I don’t think so, but guess I wouldn’t put it past them.
Did anyone see The Onion’s take? So, so funny. http://www.theonion.com/article/beyonce-quickly-releases-new-song-about-how-buying-52810
I think Becky is a composite character, like people have theorized the You’re So Vain guy might be (come on, those lyrics could apply to several male celebrities of the 70s).
Lmao!!!!
I do think this is all a PR for her album. I don’t see how beyonce “artistically” ventilating her intimate relationship problems is somewhat better than the rest of thirsty celebrities milking their own lives for fame. She is using her personal life for records sales and subscriptions to Tidal. Funny how her fans are attacking the side-piece (and the illiterate ones went after the cooking lady) but throwing money to the cheater.
And as fun as this circus may seem to some, I’m not finding funny at all that cowardly social media harassment especially to the teenage daughter of that Rachel woman who is getting rape/death threats, and I wish Beyonce could acknowledge how disgusting they are for it.
There’s always a circus around B to distract from the crappy product.
Of course it’s all for publicity, and more money for Tidal.
Um, no I don’t think she’s being paid. That’s like when Robsten fans thought Kristen Stewart and Rupert Sanders planned their affair to drum up attention for their movie. Um, nope. No one would willfully sign up for that kind of scrutiny.
No.
This is stupid.
Becky with the good hair was a single line in a whole conversation that people are choosing to focus on so they don’t have to think about the mothers of Trayvon, Tamir, and every other black child who doesn’t get a chance to redeem themselves from a society that’s already labeled them criminal.
Easier to go for the dirty gossip than the hard truths.
“Easier to go for the dirty gossip than the hard truths.”
Truest statement ever 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
+1
Side-eye, I think some people doubt Bey’s sincerity.
She uses the Black Feminism language, but she didn’t feature the mothers of any murdered girls/women just boys/men. She claims to love natural hair, but is constantly hiding hers or dyeing it blond. She wants a discourse on serious topics, but she also wants to call out side chicks. It’s hard to take her commitment seriously when it is so compromised.
The problem is those hard truths are extremely uncomfortable because then you have to rethink the narrative that is pervasive in our society. You are forced to look inside your own heart to find some ugly truths even when you never meant for them to be there.
A few months ago I was driving while visiting a cousin who lives in an upscale predominantly white neighborhood in the south and saw a black man pulled over by a cop having a conversation. Even without realizing it, at first, a few cars had slowed down to watch like they would a traffic accident. One man was cellphone ready and snapped some pics. Before Trayvon maybe I might have subconsciously thought the man was up to something. Now I don’t assume anything but hope nothing suspect was happening to him.
These messages are important and she rightfully raised the subject but it is ugly. Then the questions to be asked is: What can we do? How can we remedy this?
Another feeling that arises and that is helplessness. Freddie Gray’s vocal box being crushed while in police custody was horrific and still no real justice. It feels hopeless when people try to justify this. What are the right words to get them to see? Maybe the problem is that there are no words for it.
So we will talk about salacious things like cheating. It’s universal and not nearly as threatening or confrontational.
Magnolia: amaaaazing comment. WOW.