When Beyoncé performed in North Carolina last year, I argued that it was tantamount to endorsing that state’s anti-LGBT law. Further that, in doing so, she was being every bit as mercenary as entertainers who performed in South Africa during the Apartheid regime.
More to the point, though, here is what I wrote about her marriage in “For LGBTs in North Carolina, Beyoncé Is a Sellout,” May 6, 2016.
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Lemonade is all about Beyoncé playing her fans for suckers; you know, the way Donald Trump plays his supporters. In fact, the women who believe her I-am-woman-hear-me-roar-against-my-cheating-husband schtick are no smarter than the rednecks who believe his “Make-America-Great-Again” schtick.
Frankly, even the Kardashians can’t keep up with the way Bey and Jay exploit the intimacies of family life, including infidelities. Which is why it’s hardly surprising that he’s planning to mix his ‘Iced Tea’ with her Lemonade.
If you interpreted Beyoncé’s Lemonade to be the conclusive mic drop on speculation about her marriage to Jay Z, you may have been wrong. A new report states that Bey’s husband of eight years is planning on responding to his wife’s many lyrical accusations — that he cheated on her, took her for granted, and did not treat her like the queen she is — with his own album telling ‘his side of things.’
(Vanity Fair, May 4, 2016)
Sadly, Bey and Jay have just cause to believe millions will pay to see them act like Ike and Tina Turner – complete with Jay playing an alpha dog who can shag as many ‘Beckys’ as he wants to.
With all due respect to Michelle Obama [who hailed her as a role model], Bey is misleading young women to think that venting psychotic violence is the way to deal with infidelity. She reinforces this in the epic video for her album by burning houses, smashing up cars, and even hinting at skinning his mistress(es) alive. Then, after her ‘waiting-to-exhale’ rage, she reforms, forgives him, and takes him back.
Far from paying tribute to love and reconciliation, Lemonade serves up little more than sour-tasting male chauvinism. Only this explains Bey portraying a subjugated wife who, despite her purported intelligence, independence, and resourcefulness, feels she has no choice but to reconcile with a husband who disrespects and abuses her. Even worse, her idea of redemption has her musing, like a victim of Stockholm syndrome, that ‘my torturer became my remedy.’ That is, of course, until the next cycle of disrespect and abuse.
Meanwhile, Bey and Jay are laughing all the way to the bank. This is why their marriage seems more like a business partnership than a love relationship. And, just as it is with Bill and Hillary’s political partnership, that’s fine. Just let us be sensible enough to recognize it for what it is … and call this spade a spade.
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The Beyhive attacked, naturally. Thankfully, I inoculated myself against far more menacing trolls long before they swarmed on me.
All the same, reports on Trump’s policies are causing even his stupid voters to finally see him in a negative light. Here’s to this report on Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s exploitation causing their stupid fans to do the same:
Jay-Z’s transgressions reportedly inspired many of the songs on Beyoncé’s most recent album, Lemonade, [which] sold 2.5 million copies globally in 2016 [and] prompted Beyoncé’s Formation tour, which grossed $256 million, helping to push her net worth to an estimated $350 million, according to Forbes.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z parlayed the experience into his latest album, 4:44, which became his 14th album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and garnered him several Grammy nominations. Both his album and Beyoncé’s also sparked renewed interest in Tidal, the music streaming service he co-owns.
(Market Watch, December 4, 2017)
Ka-ching!
Clearly, Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s marriage is even more “successful” than Bill and Hillary’s.
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