Monica Lewinsky, who is infamous for her involvement in an infidelity scandal with former President Bill Clinton, is praising Jay-Z for addressing cheating rumors surrounding the rapper in his new album “4:44.”
The former White House intern penned an op-ed piece for Vanity Fair titled “Jay-Z, Prince Harry, Brad Pitt, and the New Frontiers of Male Vulnerability,” in which she applauds Jay-Z for his approach to the allegations.
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“Jay-Z had a choice,” Lewinsky wrote. “Having been called out publicly by his wife [Beyoncé] in her fierce 2016 album and video, ‘Lemonade,’ Jay-Z knew that his fans wouldn’t have blinked if his next album skimmed past the allegations. That’s not uncommon for men to do.”
Although Jay-Z and Beyoncé have seemingly moved forward and recently welcomed twins, the rapper chose to address the cheating scandal up-front, just as his wife did, through his music. Lewinsky praised Jay-Z for his display of “vulnerability,” which she sees as an “antidote” to masculinity.
“It is a refreshing and bracing antidote to see male icons convey vulnerability in an age when Washington’s new power elite and our coarsening culture are busy projecting an outmoded caricature of manhood, 24/7,” she wrote.
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In addition to rapping about his relationship with his wife, Jay-Z also spoke about it in a video released with his album called “Footnotes for ‘4:44’.”
“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 it starts cracking,” Jay-Z said. “Then we had to get to a point of, ‘Okay, tear this down and let’s start from the beginning’…It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”