9 Red Flags In Beyonce And Jay-Z's Marriage
Beyoncé and Jay-Z are without a doubt one of the music industry's biggest power couples. Their star power is undeniable, with both of the multi-Grammy-award-winning artists dominating the charts ever since they launched their careers decades ago. They started a romantic relationship in 2001 and immediately hit it off, going on to collaborate with each other on several music projects during the early 2000s. The pair went public with their relationship in 2004 and later tied the knot in an intimate private wedding. The world watched as they built a family together, welcoming a daughter in 2012 and twins in 2017.
While they've been "Crazy In Love" and "Drunk In Love," Beyoncé and Jay-Z's love story has had quite a few hiccups. As with many celebrity couples, the pressure of fame and the eyes of the world watching can lead to cracks in a marriage. With nasty tabloid headlines and rumors swirling around Hollywood, it's not easy for stars to cope with the obstacles that threaten their relationships. Add in the fact that they have endless amounts of wealth and access at their disposal, and only time will tell when some celebrity couples fall victim to the fame machine.
The star couple may have been married for an eternity (in Hollywood standards), but that hasn't stopped the media from criticizing their relationship. Grab a glass of lemonade (pun intended) and get cozy, because we're breaking down nine red flags in Beyoncé and Jay-Z's marriage.
Jay-Z said Beyoncé loved her work more than him
There's no question that Beyoncé is a workaholic. The show-stopping artist has been grinding in the music industry since she was just a teen with Destiny's Child, and she's continued to be one of the most critically acclaimed artists of her generation. But she may have sacrificed areas of her personal life in order to achieve her immense success — at least, that's the picture Jay-Z painted in his track "Lost One."
The song was a part of his "Kingdom Come" album which dropped in 2006, and it shined a light on the rapper's relationship with the "Love on Top" singer. "I don't think it's meant to be, B / But she loves her work more than she does me / And honestly, at 23 / I would probably love my work more than I did she," the artist raps in the track. While the lines could have been interpreted as shade at his partner — given her demanding work ethic — Jay-Z later cleared the air about the meaning behind the song.
"In a lot of ways, this is the flip side of the songs in my catalog like 'Big Pimpin,' where women exist almost completely as predators or objects," the artist wrote in his book "Decoded" (via Vulture). "This is about how difficult it is to respect a lover as an autonomous human being, with separate needs and goals and timelines than yours. It's one of the hardest things about a real relationship of equals. But it's worth it."
Jay-Z and Beyoncé's 12-year age gap
They say love is love, but age gaps between couples are hard to ignore. Beyoncé and Jay-Z are no different, with the rapper being 12 years older than his wife. Age is but a number in their case, however, as it didn't stop their love story from blossoming.
Jay-Z had his eye on the "Single Ladies" singer when she was just 18 years old, after the two first crossed paths at an MTV Spring Break event. The rapper later released a track about their first meeting titled "Everything Is Love." In the song, he raps: "We played it cool at the pool of the Cancun, VMA / Confidence you exude make the fools stay away / Me, I played my room, let the fools have they say / Fate had me sittin' next to you on the plane / And I knew straight away."
Despite Jay-Z falling hard for Beyoncé, the singer admitted to Seventeen (via MTV), that she didn't want to rush into anything with the rapper. "I was 18 when we first met, 19 when we first started dating," she revealed. "I really don't believe that you will love the same thing when you're 20 as you do at 30. So that was my rule: Before the age of 25, I would never get married." Beyoncé stayed true to her word, with the singer tying the knot with Jay-Z when she was 26 years old.
Rumors swirled that the duo was outdoing each other
Being the giant stars that they are, one has to wonder if Jay-Z and Beyoncé ever get competitive about the success of their respective careers. Reports suggested the two had hit a rough patch in their marriage in 2014, in the midst of their joint "On the Run" tour. The pair toured across the nation together that summer, finishing out the production with two shows in Paris.
While they had sold-out shows and epic performances to boast about during their joint tour, rumors suggested that their life behind the scenes had taken a turn for the worse. A source told The Post (via Page Six) at the time that it would take a miracle for their marriage to survive. "They are trying to figure out a way to split without divorcing ... This is a huge concert tour and they've already gotten most of the money from the promoters up front," the source claimed.
The insider also mentioned that the pair was spotted without their wedding rings, alluding to even more collusion in their marriage. "For just a split moment, things got real for them and she was even talking about adding to the family," the source revealed. "But, after a while, Jay was out doing Jay and Bey was out doing Bey. They made the classic mistake of thinking a child would change everything and help to rekindle the initial fire, and it didn't." Despite the allegations, Jay-Z and Beyoncé weathered the rumors and went back on tour together in 2018.
The singer released a break-up album
While everyone can appreciate a good break-up album, no one was expecting Beyoncé to drop "Lemonade" without warning. Sure, the couple has dealt with their fair sure of rumors of wandering eyes and trouble in paradise, but fans weren't ready for the explosive tracklist that Queen B had prepared when the visual album dropped in 2016. People blew up the Internet following its release, with songs about a crumbling relationship and an affair making fans believe the singer's marriage to Jay-Z was beyond repair.
In Beyoncé's track "Sorry," she throws shade with the lyrics: "He only want me when I'm not there / He better call Becky with the good hair." Not to mention the video for the song "Hold Up" features the artist wielding a baseball bat and smashing car windows. Clearly, Bey was alluding to someone wronging her, and the Beyhive was quick to call out Jay-Z.
In perhaps the greatest PR move ever, she released the epic break-up album exclusively on Tidal, her husband's streaming service. Fans quickly took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to address the controversy, with one user tweeting: "Unless I'm misunderstanding, these lyrics gonna have folks looking at Jay-Z like ... #LEMONADE." Jay-Z and Beyoncé remained hush-hush about their relationship status at the time, however, and neither confirmed nor denied the allegations of infidelity. The "If I Were a Boy" singer quelled divorce rumors months after the album dropped by giving her husband an on-stage shout-out, and the two announced they were expecting twins the following year.
Jay-Z confirmed he cheated on Beyoncé
The world eventually did find out that there was some truth to Becky with the good hair. Jay-Z first alluded to his infidelity in his track "444" which he released in June 2017. In the track, he raps: "And if my children knew, I don't even know what I would do / If they ain't look at me the same / I would prob'ly die with all the shame / 'You did what with who?' / What good is a menage a trois when you have a soulmate? You risked that for Blue?"
The "Run This Town" artist got more specific in an interview with The New York Times, owning up to his infidelity for the first time explicitly. "You have to survive. So you go into survival mode, and when you go into survival mode, what happens? You shut down all emotions," he explained. "So even with women, you gonna shut down emotionally, so you can't connect ... In my case, like, it's deep. And then all the things happen from there: infidelity."
In the interview, Jay-Z admitted that he and Beyoncé used their music to heal the wounds of their marriage following his affair. Despite the two sticking together and weathering the storm, the tabloids have continued to beg the question: Who's the real Becky? While the rapper has never fessed up to the mystery woman's identity, there have been plenty of theories. Rita Ora, Rachel Roy, and Gwyneth Paltrow have all been contenders — but they've all denied meddling in the rapper's marriage.
The pair went to couple's therapy
It was an uphill battle for Jay-Z and Beyoncé following the news of the rapper's infidelity. Despite his flaws, the artist is the first to admit he put in the work to save his marriage. In an interview on David Letterman's Netflix series "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction," Jay-Z opened up about rebuilding the foundation he and his wife built decades ago.
"I have a beautiful wife who was understanding and knew that I'm not the worst of what I've done," he admitted. "We did the hard work of going to therapy and we love each other, right? So we really put in the work," he continued. The rapper added that he's come to terms with his past and is focused on his family. "I'm proud of the father and the husband that I am today because of all the work that was done."
The "Empire State of Mind" artist went into further detail about the therapy he and his wife did to better their relationship in his interview with The New York Times. "But I think the most important thing I got is that everything is connected. Every emotion is connected and it comes from somewhere. And just being aware of it. Being aware of it in everyday life puts you at such a ... you're at such an advantage," he revealed.
Beyoncé was reportedly suspicious of Rihanna
Pop culture often likes to ship artists after they work together on a project. Could they be dating? Are they the newest "It" couple? The same goes for Jay-Z, who was a huge part of Rihanna's skyrocket to fame when he was featured on her monster hit "Umbrella" which debuted in 2007. After their hit collaboration, fans began to wonder if it was the rapper whom Rihanna wanted under her umbrella — which reportedly didn't exactly sit right with Queen B.
Reports suggested that Beyoncé had a watchful eye on Rihanna, as the Barbadian native also collaborated with Jay-Z on tracks like "Talk That Talk" and "Run This Town." A source told Hollywood Life in 2016 that "Rihanna is a person she's suspicious of, there have been so many rumors over the years about her and Jay it's hard to know what to believe. At this point, Beyoncé keeps a very close eye on Jay and Rihanna but he's not banned from working with her, not yet at least."
But despite the rumors, the trio seem to be on good terms with each other. Rihanna has continually supported the pair over the years, and fans may not know that it was Bey who pushed for Rihanna's label to invest in her. In music producer L.A. Reid's memoir "Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next" (via Vanity Fair), Reid admitted: "Beyoncé came up to me [and said] 'That Rihanna girl ... she's a beast.'"
Her sister, Solange, attacked Jay-Z
It was the elevator fight seen around the world. Following the 2014 Met Gala, TMZ obtained video footage of Beyoncé, her sister Solange, and Jay-Z getting into an elevator together. A huge fight ensued shortly after, with Solange lunging at the rapper and hitting him multiple times before being physically restrained by security. The "Halo" singer didn't appear to make much of an effort to intervene.
While the couple never admitted to why the altercation occurred, a source told People that Solange was provoked by fashion designer Rachel Roy earlier in the night. Roy has been rumored to be the other woman in Jay-Z's cheating scandal, but she has denied the accusations. "Toward the end of the night, Jay said something inappropriate to Beyoncé and Solange, and she snapped," the insider revealed.
Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Solange released a joint statement to the Associated Press following the altercation but they didn't shed light on why the fight occurred. "The most important thing is that our family has worked through it. Jay and Solange each assume their share of responsibility for what has occurred. They both acknowledge their role in this private matter that has played out in the public," the statement read. In 2017, Jay-Z alluded to the elevator controversy when he released his track "Kill Jay Z." In the song he raps: "You egged Solange on / Knowin' all along /All you had to say you was wrong."
Beyoncé reportedly doesn't like women getting too close to Jay-Z
It might not be just Rihanna that Beyoncé was reportedly worried about. The singer reportedly has a jealous streak, according to a source close to the artist. Actor Tiffany Haddish, who is a friend of Bey's, claims she was at an after-party hosted by Jay-Z in 2018 when a mystery woman got a little too close to comfort.
"I was talking to Jay-Z for a little bit, and there was another actress that was there who was also talking to Jay-Z," she told TV One's "Uncensored" (per Capital Xtra). "She touched Jay-Z's chest and Beyoncé came walking up like 'B*tttchhh!'" Haddish explained. "She didn't say that. But her demeanor, her body from the way she walked up on her was like, 'Get your hands off my man's chest.'"
The "Girls Trip" actor seemingly alluded to the incident in an interview with Vulture in which she explained what led to her Instagram selfie with the singer. "Okay, so what had happened was, something had went down with somebody at the party, right?" Haddish said, adding, "I'm not at liberty to say what had went down at the party." She continued: "But Beyoncé was just telling me to have a good time, and I was like, 'No, I'm gonna end up fighting this b*tch!' She was like, 'No, have fun, Tiffany,' and I said, 'I'm only going to have fun if you take a selfie with me.'"