Lifestyle Beauty & Style John Oliver Confirms That Beyoncé Was Photoshopped Into 'The' 'Lion King' Group Picture The cast photo was released earlier this month By Helen Murphy Helen Murphy Helen Murphy is a former news writer at PEOPLE. She left PEOPLE in 2020. People Editorial Guidelines Published on July 23, 2019 10:19AM EDT John Oliver is addressing those Beyoncé Photoshop rumors. After fan speculation that the pop star had been digitally added into The Lion King cast photo released earlier this month, the late night host addressed the rumors during a recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Oliver voices Zazu in Disney’s live-action remake of the iconic 1994 animated film, while Beyoncé stars as adult Nala. “There’s a lot of speculation here that everybody else in this photo is actually there, except not Beyoncé,” host Stephen Colbert explained. “People are speculating she was photoshopped in. And you’re right next to her — can you tell us whether she was there?” “She wasn’t there,” Oliver, 42, responded, adding, “I think almost everybody else was there.” “I remember Chiwetel [Ejiofor, who voices Scar] — we were setting up the shot and Chiwetel was sitting in the front and he said, ‘You need to be careful where your foot is,’ ” Oliver recalled. “I looked down and there was just this piece of tape on the floor with Beyoncé’s name written on it.” “Just the future presence of Beyoncé was so intimidating — if you look at my face in there, I look really intimidated,” he continued. “That’s because what I’m doing is imagining that I am about to be put into a photo with Beyoncé one day. And that was nerve-wracking enough.” The cast of The Lion King. Beyoncé/Kwaku Alston/Disney Colbert, 55, then pointed out the sizable gap between Oliver and Beyoncé in the photo. “It’s only appropriate that there’s a significant gap between me and the actual queen,” Oliver joked. The Lion King Officially Had the Highest July Opening Weekend Ever with $185 Million Over the weekend, The Lion King dominated the box office, earning an estimated $185 million at 4,725 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to Entertainment Weekly. The remake marked the highest-scoring domestic launch ever for a PG-rated film and the highest July film opening ever. Ian West/PA Images via Getty;Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBC via Getty Oliver wasn’t the only Lion King cast member to be starstruck by Beyoncé. Billy Eichner, who voices the meerkat Timon in the movie, recently opened up to PEOPLE about appearing on the classic track “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” alongside the star. Beyoncé, Donald Glover and The Lion King Cast Stun in Gorgeous Cast Photo “I am on a track with Beyoncé, which not many people can say, which is really bizarre and insanely cool,” the Billy on the Street host, 40, said. Though they didn’t record together in the studio, Eichner has since gotten to meet 37-year-old Beyoncé (and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle!) at The Lion King’s London premiere.