Gloria Carter, the mother of American rap legend Jay Z, recently tied the knot with her longtime companion Roxanne Wilshire in a ceremony that was attended by a plethora of famous people.
The wedding party, which took place on Sunday at Tribeca 360° in Manhattan, was attended by a wide variety of A-list celebrities, such as entertainment entrepreneur Tyler Perry, singer Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé’s mother Tina Knowles, Corey Gamble, and ‘Good Morning America’ co-anchor Robin Roberts.
Attendees partied into the early hours of Monday morning, July 3, including Jay-Z, his wife Beyoncé, who took a break from her “Renaissance Tour,” and the couple’s first child, Blue Ivy, who was at the forefront during the event.
Gloria Carter has been a source of motivation for members of the LGBTQ+ community ever since she came out publicly as a lesbian in 2017 via Jay-Z’s song “Smile” from the album “4:44.”
The fact that Jay-Z talked about his mother’s sexuality in the track, which was a very intimate song, made her initially reluctant to talk about it.
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The mother and son, on the other hand, had a lengthy conversation about it.
She ultimately gave her consent when Jay-Z assuaged her concerns and persuaded her to contribute a poem that she had written that was subsequently used in the song.
Jay-Z expressed his approval of their family patriarch in the song by singing lines such as “Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian/Had to fake for so long that she’s a thespian/”Had to hide in the closet, so she medicates/Society shame and the pain was too much to take,” he rapped. “Society shame and the pain was too much to take.”
“I wept tears of happiness when I found out you loved me/Marie Antoinette, sweetheart, let them eat cake. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a him or a she; I just want to see you smile despite all the hate.
Jay-Z mentioned that the revelation and the events that followed it changed the dynamic of their relationship and made their connection stronger.
He divulged this information when making a visit on “The Shop: Uninterrupted,” saying, “When she first heard the song, she got really protective… During this time, we discussed it. And later, while she was flying back to Los Angeles, she penned a poem in her journal. While they were flying, she scribbled that down. It was included in the notepad that American Airlines provided… I was like, ‘You got bars, ma!'”
In the year 2018, Gloria Carter and Wilshire began a romantic relationship, and in the year 2023, in front of their respective families and friends, they married the marriage.