Rachael Ray, the Food Network chef and host, became a cyberbullying victim after fans of singer Beyonce went after her.
Beyonce’s new album, “Lemonade,” was released over the weekend, and one lyric from her song, “Sorry,” allegedly pertains to husband Jay-Z’s unfaithfulness. “He only want me when I’m not there. He better call Becky with the good hair,” it says.
There were rumors that fashion designer Rachel Roy (not Rachael Ray) was the “Becky with the good hair” person that Beyonce was referring to after she posted a photo on her Instagram page. “Good hair don’t care, but we will take good lighting, for selfies, or self truths, always. Live in the light #nodramaqueens,” Roy wrote.
Roy was married to Damon Dash, who helped set up Roc-A-Fella records with Jay Z. After the attacks, Roy made her Instagram private earlier this week.
On Tuesday, Roy denied that she is “Becky,” reported People magazine.
“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,” Roy said in a statement. “There is no validity to the idea that the song references me personally. There is no truth to the rumors.”
Following the release of “Lemonade,” fans of Beyonce, who have collectively described themselves as the “Beyhive,” went after Ray, the Food Network host.
They then went to the the chef’s social media pages and posted “mean epithets, lemon emoji, and bumblebee emoji (an organizational symbol, if there was one) as comments and replies to the cook’s posts,” according to SFGate.
Ray posted an appropriate response on her Instagram after the attacks.
“Shake up your Sunday with @ChefDPhillips’ lemon shake-up with lemonade lavender ice cubes. #RachaelRay #RachaelRayShow,” she wrote.
Neither Jay Z or Beyonce have yet to issue a comment about who “Becky” is.
Roy, the designer, added in her statement that her family has been targeted online.
“Consequently, online haters have targeted me and my daughters in a hurtful and scary manner, including physical threats,” she wrote.
“As a mother -- and I know many mothers would agree -- I feel that bullying in any form is harmful and unacceptable,” she said. “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.”
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