The face mask Laverne Cox wore to attend the US Open caused a very flattering case of mistaken identity on social media.
The actress shared a viral Twitter moment on her Instagram on Monday night that caused Beyoncé fans everywhere to believe the pop star was in attendance at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY to cheer on her friend Serena Williams. Someone had shared the video of Cox cheering at the US Open captioning it, “#Beyoncé at the #USOpen,” to which the Orange Is the New Black star replied, “Not me getting mistaken for @Beyonce at the #USOpen tonight then trending on Twitter as the internet cackles over the mistaken identity. These tweets are funny as hell. Enjoy!!!” She then concluded the post with, “Go @serenawilliams #GOAT.”
When the clip of Cox went viral on Twitter, a number of users attempted to correct the original poster, but it was too late for many of Beyoncé’s fans who had already taken the news and ran with it. After all, the pop star making a public appearance in support of Williams wouldn’t be all that surprising given that the pair have been good friends for years and the tennis champion even made a cameo in Beyoncé’s music video for her song “Sorry” from the album Lemonade. The singer was also one of only 200 guests who attended Williams’s wedding to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2017.
Cox attempted to set the record straight herself, quote retweeting someone who said, “2nd biggest winner tonight: Laverne Cox who was mistaken for Beyonce all night. Which is a career highlight for literally anyone,” responding, “Absolutely! GO @serenawilliams #USOpentennis.” And when another fan asked, “Was Beyoncé at the US Open or not ? This Bey/Laverne Cox confusion is sending me,” she once again clarified, “Girl it was me. Lol.”
Earlier this month, Williams announced her retirement from tennis in a cover story for Vogue. “These days, if I have to choose between building my tennis résumé and building my family, I choose the latter,” she explained. The Grand Slam champ and Ohanian share one 4-year-old daughter, Olympia. “I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”
And in a video for Time that was retweeted by Cox, Williams also addressed playing her last match at the 2022 US Open. “I never thought about changing the world” she said. “I haven’t really known how to feel because I’ve been doing this since I was born, literally…I’ve been emotional.” She continued, “I just want to be the best mom I can be and I want to always put a smile on my daughter’s face as much as I can, but I’m excited for the possibilities…I’m just trying to get to a point where I’m going to enjoy my time out there and take it all in for one last time. Sad, but yeah, one last time.” When asked if she had anything to say to the fans, Williams added, “Thank you, thank you so much, I am so overwhelmed and it’s just been an incredible, incredible ride, and I’m just so happy you guys are on it with me and I love you.”