--- title: Rita Ora on Jay Z, Beyonce, and Calvin Harris Interview description: Rita Ora addresses rumors about Jay Z, Beyoncé, Lemonade, and Calvin Harris head-on in a new interview. canonical: https://time.com/4492908/rita-ora-jay-z-beyonce-calvin-harris/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-14T15:55:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:38.571Z og:title: Rita Ora Addresses Jay Z, Beyoncé, and That 'Not Becky' Pin og:description: “I still look up to him and his wife every day." og:url: https://time.com/4492908/rita-ora-jay-z-beyonce-calvin-harris/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77f8e19edbf29449/6988a5f20b72e34a7e6eafd6/rita-ora-jay-z-beyonce.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Tom Ford - Arrivals - September 2016 - New York Fashion Week og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rita Ora Addresses Jay Z, Beyoncé, and That 'Not Becky' Pin twitter:description: “I still look up to him and his wife every day." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77f8e19edbf29449/6988a5f20b72e34a7e6eafd6/rita-ora-jay-z-beyonce.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rita Ora Addresses Jay Z and Beyoncé's _Lemonade_: 'I'm Just Not a Gossip Queen' > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e6cef676-a0aa-4ce9-8a30-beee2ff3d3bf&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A Complete History Of Beyonce Wrecking Cars [Watch (HLS stream): A Complete History Of Beyonce Wrecking Cars](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9WeQ4Rm9.m3u8) (1:53)  _Published 2016-09-06. Beyoncé has wrecked a lot of cars in music videos, and her destruction of all things motor vehicular culminated in her video “Hold Up." Watch the complete history if Beyonce wrecking cars in her music videos from 2003 to now._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 14, 2016 3:55 PM UTC  Rita Ora attends Tom Ford fashion show during New York Fashion Week September 2016 at 99E 52d St. on September 7, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images) Rita Ora attends Tom Ford fashion show during New York Fashion Week September 2016 at 99E 52d St. on September 7, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images) Neilson Barnard—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 14, 2016 3:55 PM UTC [Rita Ora](http://time.com/3717244/oscars-2015-rita-ora-grateful/) has addressed getting caught up in the discussion surrounding who Beyoncé could have been referencing as “[Becky with the good hair” in her song, “Sorry](http://time.com/4306335/beyonce-lemonade-questions/)” on [_Lemonade_](http://time.com/4305890/beyonce-lemonade-album-review/). In an interview with [_Vanity Fair_](http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/09/rita-ora-on-jay-z-beyonce-calvin-harris), the singer, who wore a “Not Becky” pin to the afterparty following the Met Gala, explained that she is still friendly with Jay Z and Beyoncé and that she isn’t invested in the drama of the situation, but instead, in her music. “First and foremost, Jay Z is my inspiration and one of my idols—lyrically, musically, business-wise,” Ora said. “I still look up to him and his wife every day. Beyoncé was one of my biggest idols growing up…As for the rest of it, I’m oblivious, I’m just not the gossip queen. I find it incredibly rude and disrespectful to women in general \[when\] we get accused of something that’s basically against the important part—the music.” This isn’t the first time that Ora has been the center of a buzzy celebrity story; she also touched on her former relationship with [Taylor Swift’s ex](http://time.com/4370822/taylor-swift-calvin-harris-instagram-twitter/), [Calvin Harris](http://time.com/4404762/calvin-harris-twitter-taylor-swift-this-is-what-you-came-for/). On that, Ora was also positive. “He’s very talented. . . . I have had a few dramas, haven’t I?” Read the full interview at [_Vanity Fair_](http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/09/rita-ora-on-jay-z-beyonce-calvin-harris). ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] That's Beyonce smashing a baseball bat into a car window in her most recent visual album, Lemonade. Cars are often symbols of money and status. Wipe out a car, and you take away the owner's power. And since 2003, Beyonce has been wrecking Blowing up and crushing cars to spectacular effect. In 2003, we saw Jay Z light a car on fire in Crazy in Love. And this was just the beginning. Fast- forward five years later to the introduction of Sasha Fierce. Unapologetic, assertive, and totally self- possessed. In Diva, she brings down a car full of mannequins and never looks back. [ MUSIC ] Beyonce's 2011 feminist anthem, Run The World, was anti- establishment through and through. Check her out singing in front of the flaming cars in this very war- like landscape. You see the car explode as she throws a defiant fist in the air. In her 2014 Superpower video we saw men and women joining forces in solidarity in the name of justice by wrecking cars. Here, we get a glimpse of her politically active side. In Formation, we watch Beyonce laying on a sinking police cruiser in the flood waters of New Orleans. This image denounced the country's systemic racism. In Hold Up [ MUSIC ] She wrecks the most vehicles in Beyonce video history. It seems like she's addressing infidelity in the name of all women. 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