Who Is 'Becky' in Beyonce's 'Lemonade'? See All the Theories

October 2024 · 6 minute read

Will the real “Becky with the good hair” please stand up?

After the Saturday, April 23, release of Beyoncé’s new visual album, Lemonade, the Beyhive has been tirelessly trying to track down the mystery mistress mentioned in the superstar’s new track “Sorry.”

As fans of the 34-year-old diva know, Lemonade tells the story of a woman scorned by an unfaithful lover. It’s been widely speculated that the “Irreplaceable” singer’s latest work is an autobiographical reference to her marriage with Jay Z.

The internet has accused several starlets of being “Becky,” the woman who supposedly came between the world’s most powerful couple. Here, Us Weekly has rounded up the most convincing (and hysterical) theories.

Rachel Roy

Many believed fashion designer Rachel Roy hinted that she was “Becky” when she posted an Instagram of herself and a few friends. “Good hair don’t care, but we will take good lighting, for selfies, or self truths, always. Live in the light #nodramaqueens,” she captioned the now-deleted pic. Since Roy spoke out, the Beyhive has accused her of having inappropriate relations with Jay Z, 46, during his eight-year marriage to Bey. (It’s long been rumored that Roy was the catalyst for Solange Knowles’ 2014 Met Gala elevator fight with Jay Z.)

Roy, 42, has since denied those claims. “I want to put the speculation and rumors to rest. My Instagram post was meant to be fun and lighthearted, it was misunderstood as something other than that,” she said in a statement, via People. “There is no validity to the idea that the song references me personally. There is no truth to the rumors.”

“Consequently, online haters have targeted me and my daughters in a hurtful and scary manner, including physical threats. As a mother — and I know many mothers would agree — I feel that bullying in any form is harmful and unacceptable,” she concluded. “I would hope that the media sees the real issue here — the issue of cyber bullying — and how it should not be tolerated by anyone.”

Rachael Ray

Rachael Ray was caught in the crossfire of infuriated Beyoncé fans, who erroneously attacked the perky, wholesome TV chef. The Rachael Ray Show host was besieged by the Beyhive on social media after it was speculated that “Becky” was Roy, whose name is only a few letters off from Ray’s.

The culinary star humorously responded to the drama by sharing an idea for serving lemonade via the Rachael Ray Show’s official Instagram account on April 24.

Lori Loughlin

Lori Loughlin, who famously played Becky Donaldson-Katsopolis on Full House and Fuller House, made Lemonade out of lemons by hilariously commenting on the enigmatic  “Becky.”

On April 26, the actress, 51, posted a still from her days on Full House in the ’90s as “Aunt Becky,” with “Becky with the good hair” labeled across the photo. She jokingly captioned the image, “Wasn’t me. #beckywiththegoodhair #lemonade.”

Rita Ora

On April 24, Rita Ora Snapchatted a picture of herself wearing lemon-inspired lingerie and a backward lowercase “R” pendant necklace that resembled a “J,” leading to more speculation that she was referring to Beyoncé’s husband, Jay Z.

Rita Ora

Almost immediately, Queen Bey’s loyal subjects branded the “I Will Never Let You Down” songstress, 25, as “Becky.” The Beyhive then inundated Ora’s Instagram page with lemon and bee emojis, the fandom’s favored form of attack on Beyoncé’s presumed enemies.

Ora put the rumor to rest by tweeting on April 26: “I never usually address tabloid gossip but let me be clear, these rumours are false. I have nothing but the upmost respect for Beyoncé. Let’s continue enjoying Lemonade.”

Gwyneth Paltrow

Although Gwyneth Paltrow is a longtime friend of Beyoncé and Jay Z’s, memes have been making their way around the Twittersphere suggesting that the blonde Oscar winner could possibly be the “Becky” with whom the hip-hop star strayed.

“They’re the greatest people,” the Goop founder, 43, said of the “Crazy in Love” collaborators during a January 2015 radio interview on the Howard Stern Show. “They are funny and sweet, and self-aware and really intelligent.”

Taylor Swift

In 2014, Taylor Swift became the subject of a much-debated Tumblr post that questioned whether an old picture of T. Swift from high school was a photo of the actual 1989 hitmaker or a girl named “Becky.”

Not long after, the pop star, 26, got in on the joke and was memorably photographed wearing a T-shirt that read, “no its becky.” Of course, social-media users have created tons of new memes making the uncanny connection between Swift’s alternate moniker and the “Becky with the good hair” drama. (For the record, Beyoncé and Jay Z were among the guests at Swift’s star-studded 25th birthday bash in NYC’s Tribeca.)

Rihanna

Rihanna, a rumored Jay Z conquest, has been linked to the rapper ever since she was signed to his record label at the time, Def Jam, in 2005 at just 17 years old.

Fans have suggested that Beyoncé’s girl-power anthem “Ring the Alarm,” from her sophomore 2006 solo LP, B’Day, is about Jay’s alleged indiscretions with the “Work” singer, 28. A sample lyric: “Ring the alarm, I been through this too long/ But I’ll be damned if I see another chick on your arm.”

Mya

At the start of the new millennium, Mya and Jay Z joined forces for their 2000 effort, “Best of Me (Part 2).” At the time, it was reported that the music mogul and the R&B princess, now 36, shared a romance.

After it was suggested that Mya might be “Becky,” the early-aughts chart-topper told TMZ, “I don’t have anybody coming at me. I know what I’m not guilty of.”

Regardless of all the varying suppositions of who “Becky” could be, Beyoncé’s unauthorized biographer, J. Randy Taraborrelli — who penned Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story — argues that Lemonade is an interpretation of Beyoncé’s parents’ marital strife, rather than her own.

In an April 25 interview, the author told Cosmopolitan.com that he thinks the 20-time Grammy winner’s recent masterpiece is actually about her father, Mathew Knowles, cheating on her mother, Tina, prior to the pair’s 2011 divorce.

“Like I said earlier, I’m not a psychic, and I can’t know everything that goes on in Beyoncé’s world,” he said. “It seems to me after studying her that all of this is likely more about what she’s witnessed in her mom’s marriage.”

Beyoncé and Jay Z tied the knot in a secret ceremony on April 4, 2008. Together, they share their 4-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy. 

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