As loyal listeners and fans of Beyoncé, it's easy to forget that the release of Lemonade earlier this year resulted in one family facing vicious online harassment. For Rachel Roy and Damon Dash, "Becky with the good hair" is more than just a pop culture reference — the lyric has been the bane of their existence.
Devoted Beyoncé fans, a.k.a. the Beyhive, are notoriously persistent, trolly, and unpleasant to anyone to insults or does wrong (in their eyes) to the Queen Bey. Oftentimes, it's funny, like when they all attacked Chick-fil-A after the fast-food chain made a joke about having better Lemonade than the singer.
But when it came to the online attacks they raged on Roy and Dash's two teenage daughters, fans' actions were far from appropriate. In a recent interview with Grazia U.K., Dash said, "Anyone who messes with a child is a coward." He went on, likening the Beyhive's activity to criminal abuse.
"They [Beyoncé and Jay Z] should have stepped up and said something. Adults can go and harass a kid on behalf of an R & B singer?" he asked. He continued, saying, "It was like sexual abuse. The trolls should have been put in jail for that. It was crazy."
As you may remember, Roy was placed front and center in the "Who is Becky?" allegations, due to previous rumors that she had carried on a secret relationship with Jay Z. As soon as Beyoncé dropped that iconic line in "Sorry," those rumors resurfaced (and were fueled by a cryptic, now-deleted post from Roy herself seeming to address the callout). But instead of Roy and Dash facing the brunt of the online harassment from the Beyhive, their daughters became targets.
In addition to the Lemonade drama, Dash and Jay have long-standing bad blood, which Dash hopes to address in his upcoming television series about the now-defunct joint venture between the two producers, Roc-A-Fella Records.
Beyoncé and Jay Z have not yet apologized, or addressed Dash's comments.
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