Beyoncé is praising her daughter Blue Ivy Carter for her role in Mufasa as controversy swirls around husband Jay-Z following rape allegations leveled against him.
The singer took to social media on Monday, December 9, to gush over the couple’s 12-year-old daughter, and shared photos via Instagram from the Mufasa premiere, which was held in Hollywood, California earlier that evening.
“My gorgeous baby girl. This is your night,” Beyoncé, 43, wrote alongside a series of photos that featured Blue Ivy posing on the red carpet in a floor-length gold gown. Beyoncé, for her part, matched her eldest daughter by rocking a black and gold cut-out ensemble.
In the film, which hits theaters on Friday, December 20, Blue Ivy voices the lioness cub Kiara, while Beyoncé is the voice of lioness Nala. The animated adventure serves as a sequel to the 2019 live action adaptation of The Lion King.
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“You worked hard and you did such a beautiful job as the voice of Kiara,” Beyoncé added in her caption. “Your family could not be prouder. Keep shining.”
Beyoncé attended the premiere with Blue Ivy, along with Jay-Z and her mother, Tina Knowles.
Monday’s appearance marked the first public outing for Jay-Z since he was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in the 2000s alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The family put on a united front as they walked the red carpet of the Disney movie’s premiere, posing in front of photographers while embracing one another.
Per NBC News, Jay-Z, 55, was accused of allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 with Combs, 55. The accuser, who has remained anonymous and was only identified as “Jane Doe,” claimed the assault occurred at an afterparty for the MTV Music Video Awards.
Jay-Z (real name is Shawn Carter), responded to the lawsuit on Sunday, December 8. The statement, provided to Us Weekly, denied the allegations, saying that his “only heartbreak is for my family.” (Jay-Z has been married to Beyoncé since 2008, and the pair share three children, Blue Ivy and twins Rumi and Sir, both 8.)
“My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people,” Jay-Z said in a statement to Us. “I mourn yet another loss of innocence. Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.”
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On Monday, December 9, Us confirmed that Jay-Z filed paperwork to dismiss the civil lawsuit “for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to the plaintiff’s lack of standing.”
Tina was also caught up in the scandal when she was spotted “liking” an Instagram post reporting the news of Jay-Z’s rape allegations. She later claimed it wasn’t her.
“I was Hacked!” Knowles wrote in a Notes app message shared via Instagram on Monday, December 9. “As you all know I do not play about my family. So if you see something uncharacteristic of me. Just know that is not me!”
Knowles added in the caption, “Please stop playing with me !!!!”