Entertainment

The Latest Beyonce Conspiracy Isn't The First

by Shannon Carlin

April 4 has come and gone and still no new Beyoncé album. If you were paying attention to the Beyoncé record release rumors (and I know you were), you know that 4/4 was believed to be the surprise album drop date due to the significance the number four holds for Beyoncé. April 4 is her wedding anniversary, after all. But, alas, it was just a rumor like so many things reported about Beyoncé are.

Beyoncé is always pregnant, except when she's really not. She's often getting a divorce, though she seems perfectly happy with her hubby. And I've started to lose count of all the Illuminati related rumors. There's been so many about her being in that secret society that Beyoncé herself responded with a line in "Formation": "Y'all haters corny with that Illuminati mess." Not even that could stop the rumors though.

The Internet just loves talking about Beyoncé, and, since she doesn't often do it for herself, it's even easier to get lost in the fake reports. To help keep them all straight — and to give you a good laugh — I've decided to round-up some of the best — and by best, I mean totally ridiculous — rumors that have plagued Beyoncé throughout her career.

1. Beyoncé Is Dueting With Adele

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It was reported last year that Adele turned down a duet with Beyoncé, which bummed the internet out. But the 25 singer later set the record straight telling Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe, “Just to clear up, I would never be so disrespectful. I would never disrespect her like that. I’m such a fan, oh my God!” She went a step further with Time Magazine, declaring her Beyoncé love by officially bowing down. "Whoever started that rumor must have been having a laugh," she said, "because anyone who knows me knows that my main priority in life outside of my child is Beyoncé." This is probably the least ridiculous of the rumors on this list, especially in that I'm hoping it becomes true one day, but, considering what different musical styles the two women have, who knows how the rumor got started?

2. Beyoncé's Kim Kardashian Saga

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Are Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian friends? Hmm, that's a hard one to answer based on the many, many headlines discussing the status of their relationship, which are often laughable. Since 2012, websites have had fun coming up with punny headlines like "Beyoncé Not 'Crazy In Love' With Kim Kardashian" to describe the two women's apparent rift, which allegedly stems from Kardashian not feeling comfortable about Kanye's close relationship with Beyoncé. Sound familiar?

This feud gained steam after Beyoncé "snubbed" Kardashian by not showing up to her wedding. Sorry, it didn't have anything to do with that petition asking Beyoncé not to go and likely had nothing to do with her feelings for Kardashian. Bey posted a sweet wedding message to the couple in lieu of her attendance, but that seems to go overlooked. A Beyoncé snub was once again reported last year after the birth of Saint West when she reportedly didn't congratulate Kardashian. In Touch reported that their congrats was noticeably absent. “Kanye thinks Jay is just envious of his life," an unnamed insider told the magazine." But, Kardashian's rep put that rumor to rest, telling Gossip Cop the reports were "false."

3. Beyoncé Is Feuding With Rihanna

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It's not new to hear about two pop stars feuding, but the rumored rivalry, which seems to have made headlines starting in 2012, behind these two is pretty thin. It basically hinges on the idea that Beyoncé is jealous of Rihanna's friendship with Jay Z and that she believes the two had an affair. That reasoning sounds like such tabloid fodder, right? But, over the years, some have taken to the story. The Guardian UK wrote that the infamous 2014 elevator fight between Solange and Jay was over Rihanna. He was reportedly going to Rihanna's Met Ball after party without Beyoncé. In 2015, Woman's Day in Australia reported that Jay Z has a "special phone" for Rihanna that Beyoncé is "livid" over.

While this rumor has been dormant for a bit, it found its way back into the news after Rihanna talked to Vogue about being pitted against Beyoncé, whose "Formation" stole a bit of Rihanna's Anti thunder. Not that RiRi noticed. "Here’s the deal,” Rihanna said. “They just get so excited to feast on something that’s negative. Something that’s competitive. Something that’s, you know, a rivalry. And that’s just not what I wake up to. Because I can only do me. And nobody else is going to be able to do that.” Clearly, Rihanna's so over this rumor and at this point, we should be too.

4. Beyoncé Is Getting A Divorce

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Multiple times a year, the tabloids report that Beyoncé and Jay Z are getting divorced. It's been a steady story since 2014, which after a quick Google search, seems like the peak year for Bey and Jay divorce stories. Page Six reported that the two were splitting after their On The Run World Tour, chalking it up to rumors that Beyoncé was looking for a new place on her own. The fact that Bey changed the lyrics to her song "Resentment" while on the road, to many, alluded to some trouble in paradise and kept the divorces stories coming.

But Beyoncé being Beyoncé didn't give any credit to any of the rumors by actually commenting; instead, she shut them down with photos. Since they are known to be worth a thousand words, the photos of her posing in a Carter jersey, kissing her hubby on vacation and together with their little Blue Ivy certainly seemed more powerful than a few news stories. And yet, even in 2016, the rumors persist. InTouch Weekly recently reported that Beyoncé and Jay Z were working out a "post-nup" to divide their billion dollar fortune. The rumor was that they had gone through "their roughest period last year" and were going through their assets with a "fine-toothed comb." Hm, sure they are.

5. Beyoncé Is Pregnant

Since having Blue Ivy four years ago, Beyoncé seems like she's always rumored to be pregnant. If she's looking curvier or wearing baggier clothes or holding her laptop in front of her stomach, it seems she must be pregnant. As Bustle noted earlier this year, if every one of the rumors was true, she'd have had her 12th baby by now. In 2012, just four months after giving birth, Bey was rumored to be pregnant based on the fact that she was taking folic acid. Months later, a loose-fitting dress would also mean she was preggers. A year later E!, a usually pretty reliable source, would reportedly confirm that Beyoncé was expecting because she cancelled a concert due to exhaustion. But, no, she was just plain old exhausted.

In 2015, it almost seemed like Beyoncé was trolling us, first with a photo of her buried in the sand with what looked like a baby bump and then Jay Z changing the lyrics to his song "Beach Is Better" to include "pregnant with another one." But, no, she just still wasn't pregnant. As recent as February, fans were wondering if baby number two was on the way for Beyoncé, but, with a rumored new album and an upcoming tour, I'm going to say she's still not pregnant. When and if she actually is though, let's expect a pretty epic announcement.

6. Beyoncé Is Not Pregnant And Never Was

This one gained steam after Beyoncé appeared on an Australia TV and some felt that her belly seemed to "fold" as she sat. This was proof to some that she was wearing a fake belly, like the one actresses wear on TV. If you look close it appears to be the fabric of her dress that is doing the folding, but some started looking for the surrogate who was really carrying Bey and Jay Z's baby. Beyoncé's publicist actually gave a statement in response to the prosthetic belly rumor saying, it was “stupid, ridiculous and false.”

7. Beyoncé Is The Illuminati

Yes, I've already brought up the fact that this seems to be the most persistent rumor that follows Beyoncé, and by far the most ridiculous. As Fader points out, it's Jay Z who got Bey in this mess in 2010 after he denied he was Illuminati on the Rick Ross track "Free Mason." The Illuminati is believed to have originally formed by the Freemasons in Europe in 1776. These rumors became more persistent, though, after the birth of Blue Ivy, when some conspiracy theorists began saying her name was an acronym for Born Living Under Evil, Illuminati's Very Youngest. Not to mention, Fader reports that these same theorists "the reversal of her name was also Latin for Lucifer's daughter's name."

None of these things have been proven to be true, but that doesn't stop anyone from saying they are. Owing to this "Beyoncé is the Illuminati" rumor is her Super Bowl performance, which is looked at as propaganda for the secret society. Even now, it doesn't seem to matter how fake this rumor is, since, in 2016, she's still having to deny her membership.

I have to agree with Queen Bey on this one: y'all haters corny with that Illuminati mess and the rest of these rumors. Let's just give it a rest and put "Formation" on repeat until we get that new album of hers. I hear it's dropping any day now.

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