Swarm is the latest TV show to grace Amazon Prime - and its premise has got people talking owing to its inspiration.
The psychological thriller follows protagonist Andrea 'Dre' Greene, whose off-the-charts obsession with fictional singer Ni'Jah and her fanbase The Swarm takes her to dark and unexpected places.
The small screen hit is billed as 'not a work of fiction' and we are about to delve into why.
Is Marissa Jackson Real And What Is Her Link To Beyoncé?
In April 2016, Beyoncé released her sixth studio album, Lemonade. On the same evening, speculation arose that a Beyoncé megafan named Marissa Jackson had died by suicide.
In an interview with Shondaland, one of the show's creators Janine Nabers shed more light on how this acted as a catalyst for the plot, and why Marissa reportedly took her life.
She said, 'The pilot episode is based on a true event that existed on the internet. We started the story from there and kind of built off it with real events that happened in America between about 2016 and 2018.'
Explaining the real events, Janine continued, 'In April of 2016, Lemonade was released. On the same night, there was a rumour about a woman named Marissa Jackson who committed suicide after watching this visual album because it basically confirmed that a very powerful man [Beyoncé's husband, Jay-Z] was cheating on one of the most incredibly beautiful and successful pop stars of our time.'
Janine added that the story existed on the internet for a while, with people tweeting 'really horrible things' about Marissa.
Marissa 'Ris' Jackson is in fact a character in Swarm - she is Dre's sister and fellow Ni'jah fangirl. Marissa kills herself when Dre informs her that her boyfriend tried to cheat on her.
However, despite the rumours circulating about the 'real-life' Marissa seven years ago, it all started with an article shared on satire site Empire Herald. The since-deleted piece contained fake quotes from a 'friend' of Marissa's, who claimed that Jay-Z's alleged infidelity led Marissa to ending her life.
In a nutshell, Marissa and Dre do not exist. The rumours were all based on a fake article - and the hoax inspired the premise of Swarm.
Who Stars In Swarm?
Paris Jackson and Billie Eilish also have guest roles.
Was Beyoncé Involved In Swarm?
No, but the fictional fanbase The Swarm was influenced by the singer's own, the Bey Hive.
Interestingly, Chlöe is signed to Beyoncé's label Parkwood, but the Cuff It songstress was not personally involved.
Weighing in on how she may feel about the series, Janine said, '[Co-creator] Donald [Glover] and Beyoncé are obviously friends. They’ve worked together, they are colleagues, so many people in our camp have worked with her and know her. And then Amazon is a legit corporation, right? So, we’re not going to do anything that is remotely uncouth.'
Janine also confirmed that Bey had seen the series, but couldn't say anything further on the matter.