Yesterday we got rumblings that Barack Obama and Beyonce were having an affair. Today, the gossip has been rubbished by her people, who have said the rumours are ‘absurd’. And the White House hasn’t really given any credence to the rumours by acknowledging them.
Now, as much as it would be great to believe in a Marilyn Monroe and JFK-style affair, and to pull out the very tenuous 'Beyonce has serenaded Obama, just like Marilyn did to JFK in her ‘Happy Birthday, Mr President’ performance' argument, it’s really not a thing*. But how did this crazy rumour start in the first place?
Well, a French paparazzo, Pascal Rostain, told Europe 1 radio station that the Washington Post were about to drop a story that Beyonce and the president getting it on. With Beyonce and husband Jay Z being friends with Obama and his wife, Michelle, and with dear old Pascal having a book out this week, there really was no substance to the rumours, but they got picked up by enough of the French press for them to be considered important enough to be picked up by English-speaking media.
Funny how the French seem to have developed a taste for a presidential affair rumour so soon their premier, Francois Hollande, has been found to have been cheating on his girlfriend Valérie Trierweiler, with younger actress Julie Gayet. And remember that brilliant (totally unfounded) rumour that ex-president of France Sarkozy’s wife Carla Bruni's closeness to Pete Doherty was less than innocent?
Then again, us Brits are quite keen on a presidential affair rumour, too. This latest rumour comes just a week after fallen Hollywood actor Tom Sizemore said that his ex-girlfriend Liz Hurley had had a year-long affair with then-president Bill Clinton. That was also a load of bullshit.
What next, Tony Blair and Wendi Deng? Oh wait.
*After Beyonce's performance, where she sang Etta James's At Last while Obama and Michelle slow-danced, the controversy was all around her miming. The controversy around Marilyn's performance to JFK was that she was so clearly schtupping the premier.
Picture: Getty
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Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.