Beyonce Kicking Jay-Z Off Tour?

Truth rating: 0

(Getty Images)

Is Beyonce kicking Jay-Z off their joint tour? A new report claims “dumping” him from the “On The Run II” concert series is a possibility. But Gossip Cop can bust the story.

Earlier this month, Beyonce and Jay-Z announced the “On The Run II Tour” to much fanfare. It is a follow-up to their original 2014 co-headlining stadium tour, “On The Run.” The concert series was conceived with a Bonnie and Clyde theme, a nod to their 2002 collaboration, “’03 Bonnie & Clyde.” Much like before, the new run of shows is also themed around the couple’s romantic relationship. In fact, the video announcement for “On The Run II” again focuses on them as a couple and continues to play off the idea of them as a Bonnie and Clyde-type duo.

Yet the National Enquirer is illogically suggesting Beyonce could give Jay-Z the “boot” and hit the road on her own. The supermarket tabloid specifically claims the singer has been “considering canning” her rapper husband in order to “fly solo.” A so-called “pal” is quoted as saying, “Beyonce doesn’t need any help selling concert tickets. She is a superstar and can sell out stadiums by herself.”

Of course, that works both ways. Jay-Z is a superstar in his own right, a designation The New York Times actually gave him back in 2005. He also doesn’t need help selling tickets, either. Billboard reported last November that Jay-Z’s “4:44 Tour” was adding up to be his highest-grossing solo tour ever, with sales up more than 20 percent from 2013. Neither one of them is partnering up with the other because they need help. They’re doing it because they enjoy putting on shows together, just as their fans enjoy attending them. The whole point is to do the next chapter of the performers “on the run” together.

Yet despite that, the gossip magazine’s supposed source implausibly claims without any evidence that “there have been discussions about dumping Jay from the tour.” Of course, less than 10 days ago Beyonce and Jay-Z were spotted filming a video together in Jamaica. Clearly, they are still moving forward with their joint plans. So, to get out of its original premise that Jay-Z could be thrown off the tour, the outlet builds in an explanation. Its alleged tipster asserts at the very end that it’s not actually happening because “telling him he is fired wasn’t a talk she was wiling to have.”

In other words, nothing is changing. This is a typical tabloid trick. Gossip publications often tease readers with an unlikely scenario, but include an excuse as a cover-up for when time proves the allegation is false and not really happening. The truth, though, is that the proposed contention was never in the works in the first place. In this case, the magazine is claiming Beyonce may dump Jay-Z from their joint tour, even though it’s obvious such a move would be irrational and nonsensical, while simultaneously including an “out” for itself by adding in that Beyonce doesn’t actually have the nerve to do the firing.

Curiously, nothing is said about the couple battling over who should get top-billing for the tour, which was the made-up claim featured in last week’s issue. What also makes it apparent that these tales are baselessly manufactured with fake scenarios is that no trade publications, such as the aforementioned Billboard, have reported there being any talk about Beyonce ditching her equally famous husband to take the stage alone. Nor have they reported anything about a dispute over whether they’re really co-headliners.

It would be outlets who monitor the music industry on a daily basis that would break such news, if it were true, not a tabloid that wrongly claimed Beyonce and Jay-Z were on the verge of a “billion-dollar divorce” last year. Suffice it to say, Gossip Cop is told by a source close to the couple that the same magazine that didn’t have genuine insight then still doesn’t now.