--- title: Jay-Z on Marriage to Beyoncé: Wasn't Built on 100% Truth description: Jay-Z has opened up about his marriage to Beyoncé, revealing that their relationship "wasn't built on 100% truth." canonical: https://time.com/4852858/jay-z-beyonce-infidelity-marriage/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-11T16:46:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:22:44.122Z og:title: Jay-Z Says Marriage to Beyoncé Wasn't Built on '100 % Truth' og:description: "We just got to a place where, in order for this to work, this can’t be fake" og:url: https://time.com/4852858/jay-z-beyonce-infidelity-marriage/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c48466dac0831fc/6988d52c656a3f9cfabd0c56/jay-z-cheated-on-beyonce-marriage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: The 59th GRAMMY Awards - Roaming Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jay-Z Says Marriage to Beyoncé Wasn't Built on '100 % Truth' twitter:description: "We just got to a place where, in order for this to work, this can’t be fake" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c48466dac0831fc/6988d52c656a3f9cfabd0c56/jay-z-cheated-on-beyonce-marriage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jay-Z Discusses How His Marriage to Beyoncé Wasn't Built on '100 Percent Truth' > 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=2b4b45f4-7d97-43b5-871f-00e4bf738b5a&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Jay-Z Drops 4:44 His First Album in Four Years [Watch (HLS stream): Jay-Z Drops 4:44 His First Album in Four Years](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HJKgYJFc.m3u8) (1:16)  _Published 2017-06-30. “4:44” Could Be A Nod To The Couple’s Fascination With the Number 4_  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 11, 2017 4:46 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 11, 2017 4:46 PM UTC Following the release of [his 13th studio album, ](http://time.com/4848919/blue-ivy-freestyle-rap-reactions/)_4:44,_ [Jay Z](http://time.com/4821547/jay-z-racism-bail-bonds/) is continuing to open up about his relationship with [Beyoncé](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-beyonce-runner-up/). While Hov already rapped about [what many perceived as his infidelity](http://time.com/4841001/jay-z-apologizes-beyonce-444-lemonade/) (something that’s been a topic of conversation from [the beginning of their nearly two-decade relationship](http://time.com/4802554/jay-z-beyonce-relationship-timeline/) and especially following the release of [her visual album _Lemonade_](http://time.com/4370269/beyonce-lemonade-love-drought-jay-z/)) on the the album’s title track, it looks like the Brooklyn rapper has more to get off his chest. In a new video titled “Footnotes for 4:44,” Jay talks about his relationship with his father and he discusses a relationship that was lacking a foundation of complete honesty. “This is my real life. I just ran into this place and we built this big, beautiful mansion of a relationship that wasn’t totally built on the 100 percent truth, and then it starts cracking,” he said. “Things start happening that the public can see. Then we had to get to a point of ‘OK, tear this down and let’s start from the beginning.’ It’s hard. Remember we just talked about me: I’m from Marcy Projects. I’ve been shot at. But nothing is harder than this. By far. I’m telling you, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Most humans, us, you know what I mean? We’re not willing to put ourselves through that. Most people give up.” For the clip, Jay also recruited luminaries such as LeBron James, Chris Rock, Will Smith, [Jesse Williams](http://time.com/4383516/jesse-williams-bet-speech-transcript/), [Mahershala Ali](http://time.com/4667256/mahershala-ali-facts/), and Kendrick Lamar to discuss the challenges and complexities of black masculinity and romantic relationships. Later, Jay Z shares an intimate memory from a vacation about when he realized how precious his relationship to Beyoncé. “I was on a boat, and I had the best time,” he said. “I was like, ‘Man, this is great.’ Then she had to leave. I was, like, crushed. I was like, ‘Man, I don’t even feel like this. What is happening to my body right now?’ I was like, ‘Don’t go.’ I was like, ‘Did I just say…all this is new for me. Don’t leave.” Jay Z also reveals in the video that he played the track for Beyoncé long before the record’s release. “We’ve been in that space where we just got to a place where, in order for this to work, this can’t be fake,” he said. “Not one ounce. I’m not saying it wasn’t uncomfortable because obviously, it was. But because we’ve been doing this for so long, it was less uncomfortable.” The full clip is available for Tidal subscribers [here](http://tidal.com/video/76110163). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4852858/jay-z-beyonce-infidelity-marriage/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4852858/jay-z-beyonce-infidelity-marriage/"},"headline":"Jay-Z Discusses How His Marriage to Beyoncé Wasn't Built on '100 Percent Truth'","datePublished":"2017-07-11T16:46:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:22:44.122Z","description":"\"We just got to a place where, in order for this to work, this can’t be fake\"","url":"https://time.com/4852858/jay-z-beyonce-infidelity-marriage/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Music","viral","Jay-z"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c48466dac0831fc/6988d52c656a3f9cfabd0c56/jay-z-cheated-on-beyonce-marriage.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/blt6c48466dac0831fc/6988d52c656a3f9cfabd0c56/jay-z-cheated-on-beyonce-marriage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The 59th GRAMMY Awards - Roaming Show","caption":"The 59th GRAMMY Awards - Roaming Show","creditText":"Lester Cohen—Getty Images for NARAS","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/4852858/jay-z-beyonce-infidelity-marriage/","name":"Jay-Z Discusses How His Marriage to Beyoncé Wasn't Built on '100 Percent Truth'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Jay-Z Drops 4:44 His First Album in Four Years","description":"“4:44” Could Be A Nod To The Couple’s Fascination With the Number 4","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/HJKgYJFc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-06-30T14:36:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HJKgYJFc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4852858/jay-z-beyonce-infidelity-marriage/","duration":"PT1M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4852858/jay-z-beyonce-infidelity-marriage/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```