Devoted fans of the legendary Tina Turner are expressing their anger towards Beyonce and Jay-Z for their questionable use of her painful history of domestic abuse in the song “Drunk In Love,” released in 2013. The controversial lyrics reference the abuse that Turner had suffered at the hands of her ex-husband, Ike Turner.
The 83-year-old rock icon, whose real name was Anna Mae Bullock, passed away at her home in Switzerland in the wake of a prolonged, unspecified illness. It was during this time that the topic of the song lyrics emerged, with the following wording:
“I’m Ike, Turner, turn up / Baby no I don’t play / Now eat the cake, Anna Mae / I said eat the cake, Anna Mae.”
One fan used Twitter to voice their opinion on the matter, stating, “a tragic example of #TinaTurner being mocked & her abuse being dismissed.” Another fan expressed similar disgust, tweeting, “I still can’t get over Jay Z saying ‘eat the cake Anna Mae, eat the cake’ on ‘Drunk In Love.’ When I found out that it was a reference to Ike forcing Tina to eat literal cake…a damn shame.”
These lyrics are linked to a documented incident that took place in a diner where the singer was dining with her husband. Despite being asked for an autograph, only Turner was approached by fans and not her husband. Angered by this, Ike forced cake into her mouth and subjected her to the humiliating phrase, “Eat the cake, Anna Mae!”
This traumatic event was brought to life in the 1993 biopic “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” in which Turner was depicted by Angela Bassett and Ike was portrayed by Lawrence Fishburne. It is understandable why Turner’s faithful fans are so outraged by the insensitive lyrics in “Drunk In Love.”
One of Turner’s fans captured the somber sentiment, tweeting, “Still mad at Beyoncé and Jay-Z for that Tina Turner abuse reference…I love Bey but she rubs me the wrong way sometimes. How is Tina Turner one of your biggest inspirations, but you were okay with Jay-Z using that line in Drunk in Love?”
