Jay-Z and Beyoncé became the ultimate power couple when they said “I do” in 2008, and the “03 Bonnie & Clyde” singers’ love has been put to the test since they made things official.
The “Renegade” rapper made a statement Monday as he appeared by his wife’s side at the premiere of her latest Disney flick, “Mufasa: The Lion King,” only hours after petitioning to dismiss a rape lawsuit filed by an anonymous accuser who also implicated his friend, Sean “Diddy” Combs, in the claim.
Despite the allegations levied against the multi-hyphenate musician (born Shawn Corey Carter), Beyoncé stood next to her husband of 16 years as they walked the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif.
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Jay-Z supported wife Beyoncé at the premiere of “Mufasa: The Lion King.” (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
“She’s sticking by Jay, as evidenced by last night’s family outing,” a source told Page Six. “[The Carters are] a team and will face this situation together.”
The couple began dating during the turn of the century, when she was 19, while he was 31, after spending more than a year getting to know each other first.
“We were friends first for a year and a half before we went on any date, on the phone for a year and a half, and that foundation is so important in a relationship … to have someone that you just like,” the “Drunk in Love” singer told Oprah Winfrey in a 2013 interview. “It’s so important … someone that is honest.”
Tina Knowles, Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Blue Ivy attend “Mufasa” premiere in Los Angeles. (Lisa O’Connor)
It wasn’t until four years after they first connected that Beyoncé and Jay-Z made their red carpet debut at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards in Miami. In April 2008, the couple married in a top-secret wedding at his Manhattan penthouse.
He confirmed their marriage months later in a September profile for Vibe magazine, and gave more insight into why he kept their union a secret.
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“That’s ridiculous for me to confirm,” he said. “I don’t have … I’m gonna say, I think that was a ridiculous question. I just think it’s really a part of your life that you gotta keep to yourself … You have to, or you’ll go insane in this type of business. You have to have something that’s sacred to you and the people around you … I shared so much of my life, my childhood, and my family, the death of my nephew with the world. I should have something to hold on to. You need something for your sanity to say, ‘Okay, I could chill out, and this is it.'”
Jay-Z and Beyoncé made their red carpet debut in 2004. (Getty Images)
Beyoncé and Jay-Z have three children, including daughter Blue Ivy. (Photo by Francis Specker/CBS via Getty Images)
In 2012, the Carters welcomed their first child, daughter Blue Ivy.
Two years later, the infamous elevator incident occurred at the Standard Hotel during the Met Gala when a fight broke out between Beyoncé’s little sister, Solange Knowles, and Jay-Z while the trio were in an elevator. Surveillance video allegedly showed Solange kicking and hitting Jay-Z while Beyoncé stood beside them silently.
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Beyoncé seemingly addressed the elevator drama in a remix of “Flawless” released later that year when she sang, “Want me to come around and give you good karma/ But no, we scaling, up in this b****, like elevators/ Of course, sometimes s*** go down / When it’s a billion dollars on an elevator.”
Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Solange, all pictured here on the carpet of the 2014 Met Gala, were at the center of the infamous elevator incident where Solange allegedly attacked Jay-Z. (Dimitrios Kambouris)
The Grammy-winner released her award-winning catalog, “Lemonade,” in 2016 and appeared to address cheating rumors throughout the album, with the opening lyrics to the first song “Pray You Catch Me” stating, “You can taste the dishonesty / It’s all over your breath as you pass it off so cavalier.”
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In June the following year, the couple welcomed twins Rumi and Sir into the world. Later that year, Jay-Z also publicly addressed infidelity rumors.
“You know, most people walk away, and like divorce rate is like 50 percent or something ’cause most people can’t see themselves,” he told The New York Times Magazine. “The hardest thing is seeing pain on someone’s face that you caused, and then have to deal with yourself. So, you know, most people don’t want to do that. You don’t want to look inside yourself. And so you walk away.”
In an interview with David Letterman in 2018 for his Netflix show, “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction,” Jay-Z said: “I have a beautiful wife who is understanding and knew that I’m not the worst of what I’ve done. And like we did the hard work of going to therapy and, you know, really – we love each other, right? So we really put in the work and, you know, for years, like this music that I’m making now is a result of things that have happened already and you know, like you I like to believe that we’re in a better place today but still working and communicating and growing, and I’m proud of the father and the husband that I am today because of all the work that was done.”
The couple have toured together, most recently in 2018 with the “Run the World II” tour. (Kevin Mazur)
The couple stuck together despite trying times in their relationship. (Michael Rubin)
Jay-Z was named in a Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sexual assault case on Sunday and filed to dismiss the suit the following day. The rapper was accused of raping a minor along with Diddy at a MTV VMAs after-party in 2000, documents stated.
The lawsuit, which was initially filed in October, was refiled in New York by an anonymous accuser claiming Jay-Z “raped” her while Combs and “Celebrity B” watched. Initially, the lawsuit stated Combs raped the minor while “Celebrity A” and “Celebrity B” watched. Carter was identified as “Celebrity A” in the refiled lawsuit.
Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs were both accused of rape in a lawsuit filed by an unnamed accuser. (Jamie McCarthy)
In a scathing response shared through his Roc Nation banner, the “Holy Grail” singer denied the allegations and stated lawyer Tony Buzbee’s attempt to coerce him into settling only made Jay-Z “want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!”
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In response, Buzbee stated, “Regarding the Jay Z case and his efforts to silence my clients: Mr. Carter previously denied being the one who sued me and my firm,” he wrote. “He filed his frivolous case under a pseudonym. What he fails to say in his recent statement is my firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him.
“Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation. Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I’m very proud of her resolve.”
