The New York Daily News is reporting that Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z’s wedding wasn’t given the standard full front-page coverage in every tabloid magazine this week because of racism.

The article quotes a number of inside sources at the magazines who, basically, say that there are very few black stars (ie, pretty much just Halle Berry & Will Smith) who are ‘mainstream’ enough to make covers and even with her decade of chart success and various high-profile film roles, Beyoncé just isn’t on that list.

Now I suspect that there is a sad but considerable degree of truth in that but I also wonder if the couple’s desire for privacy isn’t also a part of the issue. A week after the rumoured ceremony, they’ve yet to official confirm the marriage let alone release any pictures or anything. While the gossip world doesn’t usually live or die by official confirmations (or denials), the lack of anything other than a few rumours makes it difficult to get excited about, particularly a front-cover worthy level of excitement. The rumours are already out there and there were no pictures (exclusive or otherwise) so it’s hard to see it as new cover-worthy news.

Perhaps if they were on that sadly-too-short list, people would have dug out more information about it in order to flesh out that story but perhaps they designed it that way: a very small, private ceremony with few guests likely to leak the news (similarly private Gwyneth Paltrow for example isn’t likely to be blabbing to the press about it).

When comparing it to Eva Longoria’s multi-ceremony wedding to Tony Parker last year (as the Daily News does) - or to A-list weddings like Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes‘ one, it isn’t just the race of the bride & groom that’s different, it’s the whole event. Eva and Tom & Katie both went for big, lavish events, in castles in Europe with hundreds of (often celebrity) guests being flown in specifically for the event. Eva & Tony signed a rumoured $1million deal with OK magazine so they were guaranteed the cover-shot on at least one magazine - but just got a small side bar picture in People. Tom & Katie issued an official photo straight after the ceremony (the one where Katie appears to be bending down so not to tower over Tom) and it were used absolutely everywhere - but various magazines (including both People and Hello) used new “exclusive pictures” for their cover stories because the standard one was old hat by then. A magazine running the standard pic would have seemed behind the times. So with no pictures (exclusive or otherwise) and no new factoids about the event to print, I don’t find it *that* surprising that Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z’s union wasn’t covered more thoroughly.