Beyoncé reportedly mandates flattering photography

Beyoncé Land sounds like a wonderful place, where people summer in million-dollar sandcastles, party with the president, are allowed to travel to countries that most U.S. citizens are not permitted to visit, win awards for things they are not really known for, marry successful rappers/entrepreneurs who happen to be charming subway conversationalists, etc. Today, more news on this magical territory—whose perceived state of perfection and bliss was threatened this year by Republican politicians and spiteful lip-sync conspiracy theorists...

After it was discovered that, due to a diva engineering error, Beyoncé is occasionally susceptible to an unflattering photo, the singer’s camp has reportedly banned all professional photographers from her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, which kicked off in Belgrade, Serbia, last week. The story comes months after Beyoncé’s Super Bowl performance was encapsulated by the Internet in several unfortunate, meme-inducing stills that allegedly sent her publicists into a tailspin.

In other Beyoncé Land news, Gwyneth Paltrow recently revealed that her friend lets her preview unreleased Beyoncé songs. “I’ve heard a lot, lot, lot of many songs,” Paltrow told Digital Spy, in a statement that will likely only endear her less to tabloid readers. (One “a lot” or simply “many” would have likely sufficed, for sympathy-earning purposes.) “I don’t know which ones have ended up on the album, but I’ve heard a lot as it’s gone on.” Speaking about the possibility of a new album from Beyoncé, the actress confirmed, “Yes, it’s coming. She’s almost done but she’s got a lot on her plate.”