When Beyoncé announced that she would surprise-drop the Lemonade visual album on HBO, none of her fans knew the bombshell that was going to come. When it did premiere, Twitter was, to put it simply, shook.
Rumors of Jay-Z cheating on Beyoncé, which had been swirling around well before Lemonade, suddenly ossified thanks to tracks such as "Sorry," "Hold Up," "Don't Hurt Yourself," and "Sandcastles" serving potent hints to her husband's rumored infidelity. Everyone wanted to know who Jay-Z cheated on Beyoncé with — more especially, they wanted to know who the hell cheats on Queen B?
But those became beside the point thanks in large part to Lemonade being a searing and reflective self-exploration that saw Beyoncé running up and down the spectrum of hatred and betrayal. Lemonade was an anthem of questioning one's self-worth, but also forgiveness, which is why critics hailed it as one of the best albums of 2016, and a transformative example of Beyoncé's artistic growth.
Until now, Jay-Z hasn't formally addressed his presumed infidelity. His Grammy-nominated album, 4:44, addresses and acknowledges some of his wrongdoing, but he never candidly spoke about cheating on his wife. The rapper recently appeared on the premiere episode of CNN's The Van Jones Show over the weekend and broke his silence.
Jones did not hold back at all, grilling Jay-Z about his marriage and his infidelity. The "Family Feud" singer acknowledged his own personal issues within the very publicly scrutinized marriage.
"If you haven't experienced love and you don't understand it, if you don't have the tools to move forward, then you're going to have complications. Period," he said.
How should men deal with their infidelity? Jay-Z has a word of advice:
"[T]he best apology is changed behavior." He also noted how important it is to understand your partner and be strong enough to hear criticism and sadness. If people can manage that, "The other side is beautiful — at least for us," he said.
Jay-Z was up for eight Grammy Award nominations at the ceremony, including album of the Year, Record of the Year for "The Story of O.J.," Song of the Year and Best Rap Performance for "4:44," and Best Rap/Sung Performance "Family Feud," which features Beyoncé.
You can watch the segment of The Van Jones Show below, where Jay-Z speaks up about his infidelity. If you have anything to share, feel free to sound them off in the comments section below!
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