Gloria Carter, the mother of Jay-Z, exchanged vows with her longtime partner Roxanne Wilshire in a wedding ceremony held in New York City on Sunday night.
According to TMZ, the star-studded event took place in Tribeca, with notable guests including Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Tina Knowles-Lawson, Tyler Perry, and Robin Roberts.
The reception continued until around 1 a.m., making it a night to remember.
During one of his rap verses, Jay-Z shared heartfelt words about his mother’s journey, stating, “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 medicated. Society shame and the pain was too much to take. Cried tears of joy when you fell in love.
Don’t matter to me if it’s him or her. I just wanna see you smile through all the hate. Marie Antoinette, baby, let ’em eat cake.”
Jay-Z later confirmed in an interview with David Letterman on the Netflix series “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” that he was overcome with tears of joy upon learning of his mother’s newfound love.
He expressed his admiration for her strength in living a double life to protect her children and his happiness that she finally felt free.
To complement the song, Gloria decided to contribute by presenting Jay-Z with a poem. He recorded her reciting it over the phone, capturing the essence of her experience.
In a 2017 appearance on the D’Usse Friday podcast, Gloria shared how she opened up to her son about her true self, saying, “I was sitting there and I was telling him one day.
I just finally started telling him who I was. Besides your mother, this is the person that I am, you know? This is the life that I lived.” Jay-Z’s emotional response reflected his understanding of the challenges she faced, and he felt compelled to create a song about her journey.
In 2019, during their acceptance of the Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards, both Jay-Z and Beyoncé expressed gratitude to Gloria for allowing them to share her story.
Beyoncé dedicated the award to her late Uncle Johnny, who not only designed the prom dress referenced in her song “Heated,” but also introduced her to house music—an influential inspiration behind her Grammy-winning album, Renaissance.
