Beyoncé and Jay-Z made a very rare red carpet appearance on Monday night at the Los Angeles premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King, posing for photos with daughter Blue Ivy Carter and Beyoncé’s mother Tina Knowles.
The 12-year-old plays a major part in the film, voicing lion Kiara, the daughter of Simba (voiced by Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyoncé) — who reprise the roles they played in 2019’s live-action The Lion King.
Blue Ivy and Beyoncé both appeared in gold dresses at the Hollywood Boulevard event, with the young star first taking solo shots before she was joined by her parents. Beyoncé famously avoids most red carpets, often doing her own photoshoots at events like the Grammys or at the premiere of her concert film Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. None of the three family members were previously announced to press as attending the event, despite their involvement.
The appearance comes just a day after Jay-Z was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 in a lawsuit that also alleges Sean “Diddy” Combs took part in the act, according to NBC News. The rapper responded with a forceful statement that the claims are “idiotic” and part of a “blackmail attempt.”
In the lawsuit, the accuser, identified only as “Jane Doe,” alleges Carter and Combs raped her at a house party after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, which took place in New York. The lawsuit, which was first filed in October in the Southern District of New York, originally listed Combs as a defendant and was refiled Sunday to include Carter. Attorney Tony Buzbee, who filed the suit, has also filed numerous suits against Combs in the past several months.
Jay-Z responded via his company Roc Nation’s X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday, saying that what the lawyer “had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle. No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!”
He also added, “My only heartbreak is for my family. 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. 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.”