--- title: Eric Benét Tweets Jay-Z after 4:44 Name Drop of Halle Berry description: Eric Benét is speaking out after Jay-Z namechecked him and his infidelity towards ex-wife Halle Berry on the track "Kill Jay Z." canonical: https://time.com/4841255/eric-benet-on-jay-z-444/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-30T15:20:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:45:04.027Z og:title: Eric Benét Calls Out Jay Z for Referencing Him on '4:44' og:description: The rapper namechecked Benét and his infidelity og:url: https://time.com/4841255/eric-benet-on-jay-z-444/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2e86c0c29d6d0ed/6988d41b8fd2ee2af3357ce7/eric-benet-jay-z-responds-song-reference.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Lisa Edelstein Visits Hollywood Today Live og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Eric Benét Calls Out Jay Z for Referencing Him on '4:44' twitter:description: The rapper namechecked Benét and his infidelity twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2e86c0c29d6d0ed/6988d41b8fd2ee2af3357ce7/eric-benet-jay-z-responds-song-reference.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Eric Benét Defends Himself After Jay Z for References on '4:44' > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=1563df9e-dc01-4515-9c46-ffde64d7bebd&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jun 30, 2017 3:20 PM UTC  HOLLYWOOD, CA - JANUARY 20: Eric Benet attends 'Lisa Edelstein and D.B. Woodside visit Hollywood Today Live' at W Hollywood on January 20, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images) HOLLYWOOD, CA - JANUARY 20: Eric Benet attends 'Lisa Edelstein and D.B. Woodside visit Hollywood Today Live' at W Hollywood on January 20, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images) Emma McIntyre—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jun 30, 2017 3:20 PM UTC Eric Benét is defending himself after being namechecked by [Jay-Z](http://time.com/4821547/jay-z-racism-bail-bonds/) on [the rapper’s 13th studio album, _4:44_](http://time.com/4840844/jay-z-444-album/) — but it’s not for what you might think. On the opening song, “Kill Jay-Z,” Jay Z finally responded to what was widely perceived as his infidelity in his marriage to Beyoncé (something that the Bey Hive has long speculated happened after [_Lemonade_](http://time.com/4631309/beyonce-lemonade-impact/)and [Elevatorgate](http://time.com/4802554/jay-z-beyonce-relationship-timeline/).) In his rap, he references Eric Benét who [admitted to cheating](http://people.com/archive/eric-benets-confessions-vol-64-no-2/) on ex-wife [Halle Berry](http://time.com/2966270/review-halle-berry-stars-in-cbss-extant/). The lyrics don’t mince words, with Jay confessing, “You almost went Eric Benét/Let the baddest girl in the world get away/I don’t even know what else to say\[sic\], never go Eric Benét.” After his relationship drama appeared to be immortalized in song as the metaphor for betraying a spouse, Benét, who hasn’t exactly been back in the spotlight, quickly took to Twitter to call out the rapper by talking about his current wife, Manuela Testolini, who he says is “the baddest girl in the world.” > [](https://twitter.com/ebenet/status/880682530139189248) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4841255/eric-benet-on-jay-z-444/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4841255/eric-benet-on-jay-z-444/"},"headline":"Eric Benét Defends Himself After Jay Z for References on '4:44'","datePublished":"2017-06-30T15:20:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:45:04.027Z","description":"Benét took to Twitter to set the record straight","url":"https://time.com/4841255/eric-benet-on-jay-z-444/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Music","viral","Jay-z","entertainment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2e86c0c29d6d0ed/6988d41b8fd2ee2af3357ce7/eric-benet-jay-z-responds-song-reference.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2e86c0c29d6d0ed/6988d41b8fd2ee2af3357ce7/eric-benet-jay-z-responds-song-reference.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lisa Edelstein Visits Hollywood Today Live","caption":"Lisa Edelstein Visits Hollywood Today Live","creditText":"Emma McIntyre—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4841255/eric-benet-on-jay-z-444/","name":"Eric Benét Defends Himself After Jay Z for References on '4:44'"}}]}] ```