Beyoncé Pulled a Wrestling "Work" with Lemonade

The confusion over what is real is the new normal in modern professional wrestling. Kayfabe, the scripted reality, is now blurrier than ever as wrestlers have become stars of reality TV shows like E!’s Total Divas or through their own Twitter accounts that tweet sometimes as the character and sometimes as the actor. Wrestling even has its own version of tabloids in the myriad of wrestling blogs that report on backstage news and rumors that are often referred to as “dirtsheets.” So with all of this accessibility and fans believing they know more about what is happening than what is just being presented in the ring writers have found an exploit in skewing reality to better work the audience.

Celebrity tabloids have been alleging that Jay-Z cheated on Beyonce after TMZ published security footage of Solange Knowles, Beyonce’s sister, physically attacking Jay-Z inside an elevator. Beyonce and Jay-Z made pleas for privacy and stayed together. Yet, like the wrestling fans who read every dirtsheet and think they know what is happening behind closed doors, Beyonce and Jay-Z followers analyzed every public interaction between the couple and speculated on the health of their relationship. Their marriage has been tabloid fodder but fell off of mainstream coverage. This remained true until the release of Lemonade.

Unlike a traditional album release, Lemonade premiered through an HBO film of the same name with eleven segments: Intuition, Denial, Anger, Apathy, Emptiness, Accountability, Reformation, Forgiveness, Resurrection, and Hope and Redemption. Within the segments lyrics making reference to Jay-Z infidelity grabbed people’s attention.

If it was a work then it worked. As an unintended consequence, speculation that Jay-Z cheated on Beyonce with fashion-designer Rachel Roy lead Roy to cancel appearances and make her social media accounts private. Rachael Ray got caught in the crossfire just by having a similar sounding name.

Arising speculation that this is all a work is that Beyonce is in control of the narrative. Whatever is put out there is from her own doing. She is the creative backstage doing all the booking. It doesn’t help that new broke that Jay-Z is setting to release his own album addressing the rumors and telling his side. The couple that was set on having people respect their privacy are now airing their dirty laundry to everyone to sell albums and tickets. We’ve already address that Beyonce’s tactics to sell tickets seem to borrow from wrestling. Fans are being worked into believing the fiction she’s created or at least are conveniently forgetting that Lemonade ends with Hope and Redemption.

Mark Henry said it best after a work in which he teased a retirement, gave a speech, and then attacked John Cena to begin a feud. “Y’all a bunch of puppets.”