Rumors are swirling that Beyoncé’s next visual album could be hitting Netflix—but should we believe them?
The report comes from The Sun, a popular British tabloid that cites a single source in its story. The unnamed source who is “close to the singer” says Beyoncé is scouting out locations that will top the singer’s lush, groundbreaking visual album, Lemonade.
Among the potential sites is the Colosseum in Rome, where Beyoncé was recently photographed with husband, Jay-Z, as they wrapped up the European leg of their OTR II tour.
Said the Sun’s source:
Her team are now in negotiations with Netflix to premiere the project, which would introduce it to a massive audience.
[Netflix] offered a seven-figure sum for Lemonade but contractual obligations with HBO and Tidal meant it didn’t happen.
It should be noted that as of last year, HBO still had a wider global subscriber base than its competitor, with 142 million subscribers worldwide. As of 2018, Netflix was just closing in on the 100 million mark. That being said, Netflix has been growing at a much faster clip than the premiere cable channel.
It’s less remarkable that the visual album would debut somewhere other than Tidal—afterall, Lemonade debuted on HBO as a special before the album was available on the streaming platform.
What is truly exceptional and cause for suspicion is that Beyoncé productions are usually air-tight affairs. This isn’t the freaking White House, this is the Queen Bey. The woman who blew Coachella the fuck up with an HBCU-homecoming inspired set with nary a whisper or peep beforehand. The icon who’s dropped not one, but two surprise visual albums on us in the last five years (three if you include The Carters’ Everything Is Love.)
One simply doesn’t leak a Beyoncé secret. Unless it’s Tiffany Haddish. Either way, it looks like those non-disclosures need some tightening up.
Thus far, neither Beyoncé’s camp nor Netflix has confirmed the potential deal.