As rumor would have it, it all started with designer Rachel Roy, who may have been the one of the subjects of Beyoncé’s world-stopping surprise album release this weekend. The album, Lemonade, seems to pretty straightforwardly be about grappling with, and standing up for oneself through, a partner’s infidelity — and many presume (because of massive hints) that the whole thing is semi-autobiographical. Following Jay-Z’s rumored cheating, then the tour in which Beyoncé addressed and strengthened said rumors, then the just-released album (which, with its Tidal release, was also a strong reconciliatory statement), Rachel Roy seemed to have outed herself on Instagram as the person with whom Jay Z had his alleged affair — coded on the album as “Becky with the good hair.” However. Rachel Roy sounds and looks, in writing, like Rachael Ray. And so the celebrity cook who popularized saying “EVOO” and making “stoop” (“thinner than a stew, but thicker than a soup”) momentarily received a dose of the ire of Beyoncé loyalists.
Following the release of Lemonade this weekend, Ray’s Pork lemon-smothered Pork Francaise recipe became the subject of scorn. The Instagram post bearing a photo of the innocent, breaded cutlets erupted as a forum for blame, with one seeming Beyoncé fan writing, “stealing beys lemons, hoe?” and another writing “added some lemons to taste huh?” with emojis of lemons and stinging bees — er, Beys. (Some people were less critical, with one commenter saying, “I ain’t gonna hate on Rachael. She good. Now we see why Jay cant get skinny.”) In the meantime, a swarm of other people quickly tried to stop the deluge of lemons and bees, warding people away with the likes of “WRONG RACHAEL,” or the more in-depth, “Man fuck dem damn lemons! Y’all really over here popping off on the WRONG PERSON wasting all your lil bee emojis. You know them mofos only got one good sting in em before they’re dead and done.”
Meanwhile, on an earlier-shared spaghetti recipe, a seeming member of the Beyhive wrote, “This pasta doesn’t even look like Jay-Z would eat it. I’m sure Beyonce does a better job. Like, how could you?”
And in response to Rachael Ray’s “Tournedos Pizzaiola Steak Sandwich,” served on a red plate, someone posted, “Jay-Z favorite color is Blue and you’re serving him this 30 Minute quick meal on a Red plate? If you’re going to cheat with Jay-Z, do it right! Poor Beyonce, she doesn’t deserve this! #JusticeForBeyonce“
And, once news started to break that the wrong Rachael was taking the blame, a few folks on Twitter started to respond as well:
Meanwhile, it seems Ray herself has even posted a sly response:
Alas, finally, the question this should really be bringing up is: Was Rachel Ray actually involved in the making of Lemonade, and is this whole release a secret branding scheme for 30-minute meals? The plot thickens to “stoop” level viscosity.