Before all those recent Renaissance controversies, Beyoncé broke the internet back in April 2016, when she dropped her sixth album Lemonade, and called out her husband Jay-Z for his infidelities, which he later admitted to. This includes the viral lyric “you better call Becky with the good hair.” As news of the rapper’s past with cheating was made public knowledge, famous women became part of the rumor mill, including Rita Ora.
What Were The Rita Ora / Jay-Z Cheating Rumors
Just following the release of the lyric in Beyoncé’s track, “Sorry,” fans were digging up evidence to gather their own theories about who the singer was referring to. In one tweet, Rita Ora was pictured hugging Jay-Z in a photo at an event. Another photo had Ora wearing a bra with lemons on them and a “J” necklace was posted around the same time. Fans also put together that Rita Ora was signed to Jay Z’s record label Roc Nation at the time as well.
Rita Ora’s Response To The 2016 Rumors
Ora was recently asked about it by BBC, with the interviewer asking if she wore the necklace on purpose to add fuel to the rumor mill. She had this to say:
Oh my god, it literally was a coincidence. I didn’t even think about it, I swear. And it wasn’t a J, it was an R. They flipped it round and then it looked like a J… that was my own design with an underwear company called Tezenis that I was working with.
Once the rumor took hold back in 2016, Ora took to Twitter to say “I never usually address tabloid gossip but let me be clear, these rumours are false.” Ora continued:
You’ve got to take things with a pinch of salt. And that’s what’s insane. I had to just sit through that until a good friend of mine, Katy Perry, gave me a hilarious badge that said ‘not Becky’.
Additionally, at the Met Gala not long after the rumors took hold, Rita Ora posted a happy selfie with Beyoncé at the star-studded event and captioned it “family.”
Who Was Becky With The Good Hair?
Aside from Ora, fashion designer Rachel Roy was the other prime suspect after she posted and deleted a post where she said she had “good hair, don’t care.” But, then Beyoncé’s songwriter Diana Gordon said the lyric was simply a symbolic representation of infidelity or someone having a side chick. Since Jay-Z admitted to cheating on Beyoncé in the past, the meaning of “Becky with the good hair” is not completely fictional, but “Becky” itself is not referring to a certain person to be revealed.
No wonder Beyoncé sets social media boundaries these days, she’s such a huge star there’s always something else. As far as Rita Ora goes, the singer recently got married to Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi who she is “very much in love” with. Ora is set to continue her acting career in 2023 movie releases too, including a thriller called Tin Soldier with Jamie Foxx and Robert DeNiro. We’ll keep you updated as the release gets closer.
