Like most of America, we’re all still reeling with the knowledge that someone bit Beyonce … and reveling in the mystery of who it might have been.
But long before someone tried to start the Beyhive version of the apocalypse, someone else wronged Beyonce. Her husband, Jay-Z, famously cheated on her.
In a brand new interview, he’s opening up about the work that he put in to try to make things right.
Netflix has a series titled My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.
David Letterman hosts it. One such guest who needs no introduction is Jay-Z. Even if he weren’t the most famous rapper in the world, his wife is a pop singer who is so widely revered that she’s almost been deified.
Letterman’s own affairs are almost as notorious as Jay-Z’s.
While Letterman didn’t write a confessional album about his adultery and while he also didn’t have his sister-in-law clean his clock in a famous elevator video, he was known for having affairs with members of his own staff.
He opens with that, and mentioning that he feels that he’s a better person now after going through all of that.
Which Letterman then uses to segue into his question to Jay-Z, asking if that “rings a bell.”
It does, Jay-Z more or less says.
“I want to have the emotional tools that it takes to keep my family together.”
That’s a very intelligent way of phrasing that.
“And much like you, I have a beautiful wife who’s understanding and knew I’m not the worst of what I’ve done.”
Well, let’s not go comparing Beyonce’s beauty to that of other women. Pretty sure that several Greek tragedies start that way.
“We did the hard work of going to therapy and you know, we love each other, right?”
Therapy can work wonders, for individuals and for couples. Just because it’s not for everyone doesn’t mean that it’s not helpful for most people.
“So we really put in the work.”
Jay-Z continues his answer, speaking of his relationship with his wife.
“Like you, I like to believe we’re in a better place today.”
That’s wonderful to hear.
But he says that he and Beyonce are “still working and communicating and growing.”
Marriage’s challenges evolve with time, which is why relationships that once worked beautifully can fall apart over time.
In some ways, it almost sounds like Jay-Z is saying that he’s a better person than he’d have been if he hadn’t cheated on Beyonce.
(But that sounds like a chicken-and-egg situation, since surely a worse Jay-Z would have still cheated)
It’s not just that Jay-Z doesn’t want to lose his wife. He doesn’t want to fracture his family, which now includes three children, over something like meaningless sex.
He risked all of that, and spoke about it pretty directly in his confessional album, 4:44.
Jay-Z does agree with Letterman’s sentiment, saying that he feels like a better person now.
He says that he is “proud of the father and the husband that I am today because of all the work that was done.”
That’s wonderful.
On a slight pivot, Jay-Z talks about his troubled relationship with Kanye West.
“That’s my brother. We’re beyond friends.”
Does that mean that the feud between Jay-Z and Kanye is over? Not necessarily.
“And, like your little brother, things happen sometimes.”
He then asks Letterman if he has any siblings and if they’ve ever had a falling out, to which Letterman replies: “I’ll let you know when it’s over.”
“Exactly!” Jay-Z says. “It’s exactly like that. That’s your sibling forever.”
That’s very illuminating. And, among celebrity feuds, very unique.
