Eric Benét is defending himself after being namechecked by Jay-Z on the rapper’s 13th studio album, 4:44 — 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 and Elevatorgate.) In his rap, he references Eric Benét who admitted to cheating on ex-wife Halle Berry. 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.”
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Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com