Beyoncé isn’t making a Saartjie Baartman film after all

Gossip Cop, a US website which specialises in investigating (and, when necessary, debunking) online rumours and celebrity news stories, has reported that the US singer Beyoncé is definitely not planning to make a film about Saartjie Baartman, an African woman who was exhibited across Britain by showman Hendrik Cezar between 1810 and 1814.

A representative for the singer told the website: “Beyoncé is not connected to this project, but this is a very important story to be told.”

The original rumour, which was covered by the Telegraph yesterday, came via a report in The Sun, which alleged that Beyoncé was planning to both write and star in the film.

The false story was later picked up by the South African press, who reported that Jean Burgess, a South African chief of the Ghonaqua First Peoples, had objected to Beyoncé’s alleged involvement in the project.

The Gossip Cop report also drew attention to the inappropriately “humourous” manner in which the story was originally covered by The Sun and some other publications, writing that: “while Baartman, whose stage name was Hottentot Venus, was forced to appear in these carnival shows against her will, the British tabloid and other outlets used her body shape to make a series of crass remarks”. The Telegraph