Rita Ora discusses ‘insane’ accusations she was Beyoncé’s ‘Becky with the good hair’

Rita Ora has opened up about the “insane” public reaction after she was accused of being the alleged other woman in Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s marriage.

On her 2016 album Lemonade, Beyoncé appeared to allude to an affair between her husband another woman, who is referred to only “Becky with the good hair”.

“He only want me when I’m not on there / He better call Becky with the good hair,” she sings on “Sorry”.

Fans scrambled to figure out who the woman was, with many suggesting it could be Ora, who was previously signed to Jay-Z’s album Roc Nation.

She denied the claims at the time, but speculation only rose when Ora shared a selfie wearing a bra adorned with lemon apliqués and a necklace that appeared to bear a letter “J”.

During the final episode of Louis Theroux’s interview series Louis Theroux Interviews…, the presenter asked Ora about the incident.

“When Beyoncé had her album, there was a mysterious woman called who allegedly Jay-Z had cheated with,” Theroux explained, with Ora laughing.

“Then at some point in 2016, with Lemonade in the air, you posted a picture of yourself with lemons on your bra and a “J” around your neck,” he continued.

“Oh my god, it literally was a coincidence,” Ora responded. “I didn’t even think about it, I swear. And it wasn’t a J, it was an R. They flipped it round and then it looked like a J.”

Theroux and Ora

(BBC/Mindhouse)

“That was in no way designed to intrigue or-” Theroux asked, with Ora interjecting: “No, it had nothing… No, that was my own design with an underwear company called Tezenis that I was working with.

“This is what I mean, man. A pinch of salt. You’ve got to take things with a pinch of salt. And that’s what’s insane. I had to just sit through that until a good friend of mine, Katy Perry, gave me a hilarious badge that said ‘not Becky’.”

Ora and Perry were pictured wearing the badges at the 2016 Met Gala.

Louis Theroux Interviews… is on BBC iPlayer now.