Rachel Roy Cancels Chicago Appearance Amidst 'Lemonade' Controversy

By Mae Rice in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 27, 2016 9:50PM

Designer Rachel Roy (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Designer Rachel Roy, 42, has canceled her planned Saturday appearance at the Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) due to a "family matter," the festival announced Wednesday. The announcement comes as rumors fly that Roy had an affair with rapper Jay-Z while he was married to Beyoncé, rumors Roy denies.

Roy will not appear in the festival's "Style Matters" event at the Art Institute Saturday afternoon, though all the other panelists—including designer Maria Pinto and New York Times reporter Jennifer Schuessler—will still be in attendance.

Roy first became the subject of intense speculation (and "physical threats," she told People Magazine) after Beyoncé released her new visual album, Lemonade, on Saturday. The album explored themes of infidelity, and on the song "Sorry," Beyoncé sings of her partner, "He better call Becky with the good hair."

Soon after, Roy posted an Instagram photo captioned "Good hair don't care, but we will take good lighting, for selfies, or self-truths, always. [assorted emojis] live in the light." This sparked rumors that Roy was "Becky." (Roy's Instagram has since been set to private, but the shot in question is screenshotted all across the internet.)

"My Instagram post was meant to be fun and lighthearted, it was misunderstood as something other than that," Roy told People Magazine in a statement on Tuesday. "There is no validity to the idea that the song references me personally. There is no truth to the rumors."

Roy's statement also noted that she and her daughters had been inundated "hurtful and scary" online comments and as well as physical threats.

"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," she said.

Roy had denied the affair rumors before that, sort of, with a vague tweet on Sunday:

Tuesday, Roy also pulled out of a New York engagement due to a "family emergency."