Jay Z and Beyonce split for a year after nasty Rihanna affair rumours

We thought they were the only celebrity couple that would really last forever, but apparently we have been lied to. At least, that is according to a new book, Beyoncé: The Untold Story.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z separated for a year when the rumours that he was having an affair with Rihanna began to make headlines. 

Beyoncé and Jay started dating in 2000. Allegedly they split at around the same time that he discovered Rihanna and helped launch her single Pon De Replay, five years later.

It seems that Bey “wasn’t sure what to make of the situation,” and this new book claims she and her now husband split.

J Randy Taraborrelli, the author of the book, told Entertainment Tonight:

“They spent maybe a year apart from each other because Beyoncé just wasn't sure of what to make of the situation with Rihanna.” 

At that time Jay Z was 35, Beyoncé 24, and Rihanna was 17, and it wasn’t until a year later in an interview with Cosmopolitan that wedding rumours began about the pair when Bey said: “I did start thinking about what kind of wedding I’d want.”

While he went on to say that Rihanna and Bey are quite close now, it seems that he believes that elevator spat between Jay and Solange was a result of the alleged affair and the couple’s separation.

In May 2014 Solange was caught on camera lashing out at Jay after the Met Gala.

The surveillance video that made it to the internet and then went viral was lacking audio however, so no one seems to know what sparked the fight. Naturally, Beyoncé has declined to comment. 

According to Taraborrelli, who claims he spoke to multiple sources very close to the singer, Beyoncé told her husband that he could not attend Rihanna’s after party that night.

He did add: “I think it's safe to say the only people who know for sure what happened are Bey, Jay, Solange and the bodyguard who were in the elevator.”