Question: How do you know if a Beyoncé rumor is worth talking about? Answer: If she decides to address it in her own special Beyoncé way — with some not-so-subtle Instagram PR a la Solange-gate. A recent blind item suggested the pop star and husband Jay Z are going to end their marriage once their joint On the Run tour wraps up, and the news has sent some Internet dwellers into a bit of a tizzy. Sure, Beyoncé and Jay Z divorce rumors happen all the time, often for no real reason — but some are taking this rumor more seriously because it comes from the same source that called the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce.
Of course, the fact that Beyoncé posted a picture of happy family time on social media doesn’t make it true — she responded to pregnancy rumors with a Tumblr post and a glass of wine, and Blue Ivy Carter is still an only child as far as we know (assuming you believe she gave birth to Blue in the first place). It just means that, were Beyoncé’s gossip troubles ever canonized, this week’s news would certainly make the List of Beyoncé Scandals page Wikipedia, which somehow does not exist yet. Get on it, #BeyHive.
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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com