Beyonce was never meant to the special music guest at the Democratic National Convention, so they say now after hyping millions of fans with dreams that ultimately didn’t take off the ground.
After the massive disappointment ailing an army of fans, a representative for Beyonce claimed that she “was never scheduled to be there,” as per The Hollywood Reporter’s August 22 exclusive. Addressing a previous buzzworthy report pushed by TMZ stating that Beyonce would be closing out the Chicago event on Thursday, August 22, the rep also said, “The report of a performance is untrue.”
Once the media outlet fanned the rumour mill, social media went up in flames, anticipating Queen Bey’s arrival at this year’s DNC in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid. Although the ‘Single Ladies’ hitmaker had previously granted the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign the permission to use her 2016 track, “Freedom” as an anthem for the first Black female presidential nominee, mentions of her attendance at the event were nothing more than mere speculation.
In addition to her rep shutting down the fierce rumour chain in a statement to THR, her publicist Yvette Noel-Schure also also slammed the old claims on her socials. Taking to her Instagram, she posted a snap of the TV, watching CNN: “At home watching and anticipating the VP’s historic speech. Focus on the win and register to vote. Do not report rumours. FOCUS (American flag emoji).”
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Beyonce’s absence at the United Center arena hit extra hard on Thursday after rumours blew up online mayhem. However, she was still there in spirit, as her hit “Freedom” played on for Harris’ onstage welcome when she officially accepted the party’s nomination on the final day of the DNC.
TMZ releases statement after Beyonce rumours turn out fake
Meanwhile, TMZ tried its best to extinguish the fire it had fanned earlier by quoting Beyonce herself. Flashing the message not only on its website, the outlet also plastered her words on their socials to calm the agitated crowd down. But that didn’t do the trick.
“To quote the great Beyonce: We gotta lay our cards down, down, down… we got this one wrong.”
Endless streams of tearful, enraged and sad GIFs poured out in the comments on X, formerly Twitter.
Internet reacts to Beyonce’s absence at DNC
A user wrote, “Omggggg … 😭😭 the first step is admitting you were wrong! Next step is compensation for the emotional, physical, and mental distress placed upon us.”
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Someone else linked a video of a man initially being locked out of an establishment and said, “The TMZ intern who tweeted the Beyonce news trying to get into the LA office tomorrow.”
A third person commented, “You were lied to just like the rest of America was lied to for four days.” Some others speculated if the rumours were merely a premeditated stunt executed “on purpose… so that people would tune in to watch” the DNC.
Elsewhere on the platform, an angry user fumed, “Beyoncé should sue the DNC for defamation for lying about her performing just to get views. Someone else said, ”That’s the kind of chaos I expect. It’s wild how much power these celebrity appearances have over people’s attention.”
Contrary to the outlet’s most recent report stating that Queen Bey “is in Chicago, and getting ready to pop out for Kamala Harris on the final night,” it had said otherwise in an early August article.
Some other sources with direct knowledge about the Harris-Walz campaign’s decision about DNC performances boldly claimed that they were trying to restrict their celebrity involvement so that the whole thing would not end up looking like a giant Hollywood fest.
Despite all that, the DNC did enlist some significant celebrity power to put on a big show. On night three – Wednesday, August 21—John Legend and Sheila E performed rock and roll icon Prince’s song, “Let’s Go Crazy.” Pink ultimately headlined the final day event with her daughter, Willow, on Thursday.
Tony Goldwyn, Ana Navarro, Mindy Kaling, and Kerry Washington hosted the 2024 DNC. The four-day convention also welcomed stars like Stevie Wonder and Patti LaBelle, and surprise appearances by Oprah Winfrey and many more.
