“'Dangerously in Love' Beyoncé and Jay-Z are Hollywood's Most Powerful Couple - charlestonchronicle.net” plus 2 more

Martha Ekim 03, 2022

“'Dangerously in Love' Beyoncé and Jay-Z are Hollywood's Most Powerful Couple - charlestonchronicle.net” plus 2 more

'Dangerously in Love' Beyoncé and Jay-Z are Hollywood's Most Powerful Couple - charlestonchronicle.net
Melina Matsoukas: ‘I didn't grow up seeing dark-skinned people fall in love on screen’ - The Guardian
Reese Witherspoon Can't Contain Her Excitement After Beyoncé Gifts Her With Entire Ivy Park Collection - msnNOW

'Dangerously in Love' Beyoncé and Jay-Z are Hollywood's Most Powerful Couple - charlestonchronicle.net

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 07:32 AM PST

Beyoncé performing on The O2 in London. Photo by idrewuk (originally posted to Flickr as Hello hubbie!) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

When Beyoncé married Jay-Z in 2008, the skeptics were as loud as the audience at a sold-out Destiny's Child concert.

At its worst, critics expected that the marriage would be Bobby and Whitney all over again – a hip-hop bad boy meets a sexy songstress with a squeaky-clean, all-American image.

Some of those critics believed the marriage would only last as long as the union between Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley – an odd and uncomfortable 20-month marriage that ended with Elvis' daughter filing for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.

After a dozen years, hundreds of millions of records sold — and one infamous elevator fight at a Met Gala between Jay-Z and Solange Knowles, (Beyoncé's little sister) — Hollywood's preeminent power couple are still "dangerously in love."

"I believe Beyoncé and Jay-Z have been successfully married as a Hollywood power couple for so long because they can see beyond the wealth, fame and materialism that comes with a Hollywood lifestyle," stated hip-hop artist and activist Sean XGL Mitchell.

"The music business can be brutal so artists and couples who are grounded, in touch with reality and are consciously aware of who they are, have the keys to success and longevity," Mitchell noted.

"In particular, when you watched Beyoncé's Super Bowl performance a few years ago, she paid tribute to the Black Panthers while performing her new hit' Formation. Their costumes and choreographed dance routine, which included a fist in the air, was a true sign of self-knowledge and pride," Mitchell added.

"It was equally apparent in Jay-Z's lyrics in the song the 'Story of O.J.' When you have two people who are more than just artists, who can transcend power, you have the making of a successful partnership and marriage," he said.

According to medium.com, the average divorce rate of Hollywood celebrities is 52 percent, slightly higher than that of the general public. The length of celebrity marriages can be as short as hours, while the average is about six years, the website reported.

That Jay-Z and Beyoncé have doubled that time and are still going strong, doesn't exactly surprise experts who've followed their careers and relationship.

Dr. Fran Walfish, a Beverly Hills family and relationship psychotherapist and regular expert child psychologist on CBS-TV's "The Doctors," said it's no secret the power couple has overcome big problems in their marriage.

At a Met Gala event in 2014, cameras caught Solange hitting and kicking Jay-Z as Beyoncé watched quietly. Later, it was revealed that Solange confronted her brother-in-law over cheating rumors, and things quickly escalated.

"The critical key is that they hung in together with a solemn commitment to each other and the couple ship," Walfish stated. "Today, it seems, they are doing better than ever and are parents to a 7-year-old daughter and two-year-old twins."

In a 2017 interview with The New York Times Style Magazine, Jay-Z opened up about his infidelity and the near demise of his marriage.

"You know, most people walk away, and like the divorce rate is 50 percent or something because most people can't see themselves," Jay-Z told the Times. "The hardest thing is seeing pain on someone's face that you caused, and then have to deal with yourself. So, most people don't want to do that. You don't want to look inside yourself. And so, you walk away."

Walfish stated that Jay-Z's interview with the Times was telling.

"The hardest part for him was seeing the pain on his wife, that he caused," Walfish said.

"That is accountability and owning up to a huge mistake. Beyoncé, on the other hand, had to be open to forgiveness. Her love and non-judgmental character, along with probable therapeutic help, allowed for repair in the relationship. The secondary gain is that this type of relationship deep repair can bond a couple even more strongly together than before," Walfish added.

Born Sean Carter in Brooklyn, NY in 1969, Jay-Z has won 22 Grammy Awards with hits that include "Hard Knock Life," "99 Problems," and "Run this Town."

With a net worth of more than $1 billion, Jay-Z also has produced several films, and he owns the streaming service, Tidal, and other companies.

Born in 1981 in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé rose to fame with the singing group "Destiny's Child" in the 1990s. Her solo career took off in 2002 with the release of the album, "Dangerously in Love," which included a collaboration with Jay-Z.

Beyoncé has won 23 Grammy Awards and owns and operates Parkwood Entertainment, a company that includes various brands of music, movies, videos, and fashion. Forbes Magazine has placed Beyoncé's net worth at approximately $500 million.

"These two powerhouse moguls understand the nature of engagement that is vital in a marriage," stated Dr. Allana Da Graca, a psychologist, and self-styled persistence expert.

"I think they both understand the arduous journey to fame that can also blur lifelines of meaning and authenticity amongst themselves. They hold one another accountable and maintain the muse of each other," Da Graca said.

Melina Matsoukas: ‘I didn't grow up seeing dark-skinned people fall in love on screen’ - The Guardian

Posted: 25 Jan 2020 09:00 AM PST

Melina Matsoukas, 39, directed some of the most acclaimed music videos of the 2010s, including Rihanna's We Found Love, Solange's Losing You and Beyoncé's Formation, for which she won a Grammy. She has also directed episodes of TV shows Master of None and Insecure. Her debut feature film, Queen & Slim, is written by Lena Waithe and stars Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya as an African American couple on a first date who are forced to go on the run when one shoots a white police officer in self-defence. Matsoukas was born in New York, lives in Los Angeles, and is of Greek, Jewish, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Jamaican descent.

Your leads are played by black British actors, but the film seems very much about black America. What was it like working with two Brits who might not have context for this story?
I disagree completely. My first memory of police brutality was when they killed this young man named Amadou Diallo [in 1999], an African immigrant living in the Bronx. He was killed with 41 shots when he reached for his wallet. He had just moved here, trying to make a better life for himself, but all they saw was a black man who was a threat. I remember growing up in the Bronx and visiting the apartment building where he was gunned down – that made an incredible impact on my life.

I don't want to speak for [Daniel Kaluuya], but he had his own experiences with police brutality in London growing up. So to me, police brutality in America is something that is not an African American issue, it's a black issue.

The film is also a love story. What stories of black love did you grow up with?
I didn't really feel like I grew up seeing two dark-skinned people fall in love on screen. I had never really seen that connection between two people who looked like our Queen and Slim, like Jodie and Daniel. I really wanted to be part of redefining what black beauty – well, beauty – means. I also think about when I went to film school and they said: "Hey, casting a black woman as your lead won't be profitable."

Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith in Queen and Slim. — Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith in Queen & Slim. Photograph: Allstar/Universal Pictures

Who said that to you?
One of my teachers. They said it to the entire class, not just me, but I'm sitting in the class looking around like: "No one else heard this?!" That really stuck with me.

Your parents were very politically active. Is that something you inherited?
My parents were definitely activists. I was brought up going to marches and fighting and understanding that we all have a purpose in life and we need to use our privilege to bring equality to the world.

Queen and Slim begin their journey in Cleveland and travel south to Cuba – it's a reverse slave escape narrative.
Lena [Waithe] wrote Cleveland because it has the death penalty. Cleveland was also the last stop on the Underground Railroad before slaves would get to Canada. And, it's where Tamir Rice [a 12-year-old African American boy who was killed in 2014] was gunned down by a racist police officer. I knew that it was important for our story to start there. I had to really fight for it, and of course when we first got there [to film], there was a polar vortex, which didn't help.

How does one navigate a polar vortex?
Every 15 minutes we'd have to go inside and drink soup and take breaks so people wouldn't get frostbite. One day we couldn't even shoot outside, we had to rig the car inside a warehouse. The equipment was failing… It was actually horrendous.

There's been some criticism of the depiction of violence and trauma in the film. What do you make of it?
Yeah, it's understandable. I am a film-maker who likes to reflect the times and I feel there's a need to [do that] to create change. In order to create discussion you have to disrupt, and it's going to make people uncomfortable at times. So I actually welcome those kind of conversations.

You started out directing music videos. What did you learn from that part of your career?
From music videos, there's a stigma this isn't true film-making. That genre isn't respected in the same way. Had I started out making a short film or even doing commercials, I feel like my career would have taken a different route. But I think it's really great training for understanding how to build a world.

Watch a trailer for Queen & Slim.

Can you talk about your relationship with the Knowles sisters, Beyoncé and Solange?
It was Beyoncé who took a risk on me when I was a very young film-maker in music videos. Both of those women are tremendous forces in their own right, and business women, so I've been taught well! In television, it was [Insecure creator] Issa Rae, and now it's Lena, but black women have really been the forces behind my success.

What did you think when Issa Rae said "Congratulations to those men" as she announced the best director Oscar nominees?
Ha! I put it up on my Insta story – I loved it, I think she's always outspoken. I feel [the all-male list] is reflective of the bodies that are in power. Until there's true diversity within those spaces, they're going to reflect the values of those people.

I hear you're a bit of a foodie. What was the last great meal you ate?
Yes! I just had an incredible birthday dinner on Tuesday at Majordomo, which is David Chang's restaurant in LA. They have this flatbread with this incredible butter with honey and cracked pepper – the rest of the meal was heaven-sent, but that bread alone...

In the movie, Slim asks: "Why do black people always feel the need to be excellent?" Do you also feel that pressure yourself?
Yeah, absolutely, I think that's something that all black people can relate to. The opportunities are few and far between, and when we're given them we have to deliver and be prepared for them in a way that our white counterparts don't. There's this incredible burden to carry our community and make room not just for ourselves but for the next person, and the way to do that is by being excellent.

Queen & Slim is out on 31 January

Reese Witherspoon Can't Contain Her Excitement After Beyoncé Gifts Her With Entire Ivy Park Collection - msnNOW

Posted: 15 Jan 2020 09:30 PM PST

Being friends with Beyoncé has its perks!

A week after Reese Witherspoon received a case of champagne from Bey and her husband, JAY-Z, the actress took to her Instagram to reveal that Queen B had sent even more gifts her way.

"You guys, somebody told me that a big package is arriving. I don't know what it is. Let's go see," Witherspoon says in the video, before pushing a huge, orange-covered package up her driveway.

"Oh my gosh!" she yells in excitement, guessing the package could be art, some balloons or movie posters. Then, she snaps it open, to reveal the entire Ivy Park collection, which Witherspoon generously models for her fans.

"Does this officially make me the newest member of the #Beyhive? 🐝," the Morning Show star captioned the post. "Thank you, @Beyonce for the #IvyPark swag!"

Witherspoon isn't the only celeb we'll be seeing rocking Ivy Park this year. Beyoncé also gifted the entire collection to Cardi B, Hailey Bieber, Yara Shahidi, and her mom, Tina Knowles Lawson.

Kate McKinnon, meanwhile, is seemingly still trying to get in good with the singer, after joking to Ellen DeGeneres that she "blew it" at the Golden Globes.

"My sister and I found out we were going to be at their table and started panicking and making a list," McKinnon recalled on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last week. "[We said,] 'Well, what do we say? We live in one-bedroom apartments in New York City. What can we say? Do you use Hello Fresh? What kind of milk do you like to drink?'"

"My sister went right over and had balls of steel and Beyoncé was so nice and I was just … I pretended I had something on my pants," McKinnon recalled. "I blew it. I blew it."