It’s Beyonce like you’ve never heard her before. The singer, 36, discusses forgiving JAY-Z, 48, following the couple’s infidelity issues which trickled through the news from 2014-2016; with the pair later admitting that the rapper had been unfaithful through their music (Beyonce’s Lemonade (2016) and JAY’s 4:44 (2017) albums). In an essay, Beyonce pens an emotional passage, where she confesses she’s been through it all in terms of “betrayals” and “heartbreaks.” While she doesn’t list any specific names, it’s evident by her description, when talking about her ancestry, that her words were about her marriage, among other things.
“There are many shades on every journey. Nothing is black or white. I’ve been through hell and back, and I’m grateful for every scar. I have experienced betrayals and heartbreaks in many forms. I have had disappointments in business partnerships as well as personal ones, and they all left me feeling neglected, lost and vulnerable,” she pens in Vogue, as the magazine’s September cover star. “Through it all I have learned to laugh and cry and grow. I look at the woman I was in my 20s and I see a young lady growing into confidence but intent on pleasing everyone around her. I now feel so much more beautiful, so much sexier, so much more interesting. And so much more powerful.”
In another essay, the singer reflected on her own ancestry and how it effected her relationships. “I come from a lineage of broken male-female relationships, abuse of power and mistrust,” she reveals. “Only when I saw that clearly was I able to resolve those conflicts in my own relationship. Connecting to the past and knowing our history makes us both bruised and beautiful.”
Beyonce and JAY-Z were plagued with rumors that their marriage was on the rocks beginning in 2014, and continuing throughout 2015 and 2016. Then, in April of 2016, Beyonce released Lemonade, her sixth solo album which featured mysterious lyrics about infidelity and a marriage in crisis, with other songs telling a story of anger, then redemption, and finally forgiveness, which leads to a reconciliation.
Despite her revealing album, and JAY’s followup (4:44), which seemed to follow a similar pattern of divulging their skeletons in the closet, Beyonce has never spoken directly of the infidelity. Her candid essays with Vogue marks the first time in a long time we’re getting an up close and personal look at the usually private couple.
Elsewhere in the candid cover story, Beyonce reveals the frightening and potentially dangerous birth of her twins, Rumi and Sir, in 2017. She admits that she underwent an emergency C-section, and praised JAY for his comfort and care during that time. She also talks about freedom, her body and much more.