46 / 302
I
t seems lately that Beyoncé’s
private life is accumulating more
hits than her music. For instance,
there was the infamous ‘elevator’
episode in May where it emerged
that her sister, Solange viciously
assaulted her husband Jay Z. The
incident caught on surveillance
camera took place at the Standard
Hotel in Manhattan, New York
and was leaked online by gossip
website TMZ, sending the media
into a frenzy of speculation.
Some claimed that the attack
occurred because Solange was
drunk and had displayed erratic
behaviour while others believe
it was because Jay Z had been
getting a bit too close to designer
Rachel Roy at the Met Gala Ball
and wanted to continue partying
at Rihanna’s after tour party…
alone. The ‘Pretty Hurts’ singer
was then reportedly seeking
a divorce on the grounds of
infidelity, yet at the same time was
uploading ‘happy family’ pictures
of herself, Jay Z and daughter Blue
Ivy on Instagram. Confused? So
were we. So what really is going
on between music’s number one
power couple?
Among the stories covering their
imminent split were reports of
Beyoncé looking for an apartment
alone, not wearing her wedding
ring and all three parties involved
declaring they had “moved
forward as a united family”.There
were also claims in
US Weekly
that Gwyneth Paltrow was
advising Beyoncé to ‘consciously
uncouple’ from Jay Z instead
of divorcing, following her own
method of splitting from husband
Chris Martin in March. We were
also told by Beyoncé’s mum,
Tina that “everything is perfect”
between the two and declared
“haters going to be haters and
there is nothing we can do about
that.” But then more fuel was
added to the fire when Mathew
Knowles, the two sisters’ father
and Beyoncé‘s former manager
claimed that the whole thing was
staged to boost sales of Beyoncé
and Jay Z’s ‘On the Run’ tour
and Solange’s record sales. He
reportedly said on a US radio
station, “I know, because we’ve
done this. From experience
there’s a tour going on, you have
to sometimes ignite that tour. It’s
called a Jedi mind trick. The Jedi
mind trick fools you.” If this was
indeed true, does this mean that
Beyoncé and Jay Z did not have
confidence in getting the sales
they desired for the tour?
This is not the first time that
Beyoncé has found herself
surrounded by controversy. In
2011 following her pregnancy
announcement at the MTV Video
Music Awards, the singer sparked
rumours of a fake baby bump
when her stomach appeared to
collapse as she sat down during
a live TV appearance in Australia.
During her recent ‘On the Run’
date in Cincinnati, Ohio with Jay
Z, it was noted that some of the
lyrics to her 2006 infidelity-ode
‘Resentment’ had been changed
which may suggest that she
was throwing fiery daggers at
her husband for his rumoured
‘unfaithfulness’. The original line,
‘Been ridin’ with you for six years’
was replaced with ‘Been ridin’
with you for the past 12 years’
and on ‘Crazy in Love’ she added
the lyrics, ‘She ain’t even half of
me. The bitch will never be me’,
possibly an attack on an unknown
mistress. But who knows? On
her third album in 2008, Beyoncé
introduced the world to her alter-
ego Sasha Fierce which showed
a sexier and darker persona
but didn’t sit quite well with
some people who suggested the
symbols in some of her images
linked her to an occult. In the early
parts of last year, Beyoncé used