Gloria Carter, the mother of American rapper Jay-Z, tied the knot with her longtime partner, Roxanne Wilshire in New York City on Sunday night.
The star-studded event was graced by Jay-Z’s wife Beyonce, 41, who was seen teetering along in skyscraper heels while holding onto daughter Blue Ivy, 11, for support, alongside fellow artists, Kelly Rowland, Tina Knowles-Lawson, Tyler Perry, Robin Roberts, and Corey Gamble.
Jay Z, 53, has been openly supportive of his mother’s sexuality since she came out as gay.
Jay-Z first opened up about her mother coming out to him on his 2017 track, “Smile”. He also shared how happy he was when she found a partner, likely referring to Roxanne.
“Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian/Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian/Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate/Society shame and the pain was too much to take,” he rapped. “Cried tears of joy when you fell in love/Don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her/I just wanna see you smile through all the hate/Marie Antoinette, baby, let ’em eat cake.”
Jay-Z confirmed in an interview with David Letterman on the Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction that he did shed tears of joy upon discovering his mother fell in love.
“Imagine having to live your life as someone else and you think you’re protecting your kids,” he explained. “For her to sit in front of me and tell me ‘I think I love someone,’ I really cried…I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free.”
