Beyonce’s mother Tina Knowles is setting the record straight. The 70-year-old took to Instagram recently to debunk rumours circulating online which alleged that her daughter was paid $10 million to appear at the United States Vice President and then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ Houston rally in October.
Not just Beyonce, but celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Megan Thee Stallion, and Cardi B have also faced similar accusations. Several celebrities have come forward to slam such reports.
Was Beyoncé paid $10 million for the Harris rally?
Beyonce’s mother set the record straight on Monday (Nov 18) as she took to Instagram to slam the baseless rumours and stated that Queen Bey was not paid any money for her appearance at the rally. Taking to her social media handle on November 18, the House of Deréon founder wrote, “So this has been flagged on Instagram as fake news and taken down. It’s called False Information,” alongside a screenshot of a blurred-out post originally shared on political commentator Candace Owens’ podcast account. She added, “Sadly, other platforms with a lack of integrity still have it up.”
“The lie is that Beyonce was paid 10 million dollars to speak at a rally in Houston for Vice President Kamala Harris,” continued. “Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at a Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’s Rally in Houston.” ‘
According to Knowles, the singer even paid out of her own pocket for flights, her team, and glam—echoing Cardi B’s recent remarks when she called out Owens for questioning the rumoured payment.
“They’re not just lying and disrespecting Beyoncé’s name, but they’re also trying to undermine the power of our Vice President!” Cardi B had said and added, “When will these lies and rumors end? Of course, you won’t hear about this in the news!!!!”
Other celebrities accused of being paid to support Harris’ campaign
In October, Beyonce joined her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland at Harris’ campaign event to show her support for the Democratic nominee ahead of the US presidential election on November 5. This was followed by Oprah Winfrey’s town hall appearance for the campaign. Several other stars from Hollywood—such as Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Jennifer Lopez, and John Legend—also lent their support to Harris through her campaign. However, despite this wave of support, the incumbent VP ultimately lost to her Republican rival Donald Trump.
Now, some of these stars have been accused of being paid to make these appearances.
Responding to Knowles’s post, John Legend who appeared at the Philadelphia event commented, “Let em know, Ms Tina! We all performed/appeared for free because we care about our nation’s future.”
Earlier, Beyonce too had blasted critics in a post, saying, “I didn’t get paid a dollar, and that’s on my three!! I actually came out of pocket for glam and travel because it’s somewhere I wanted to be. Like, please girl, you know damn well I’ll argue you down about politics FOR FREE.”
“I was not paid a dime. For the live-streaming event in September, my production company Harpo was asked to bring in set design, lights, cameras, crew, producers, and every other item necessary (including the benches and the chairs we sat on) to put on a live production. I did not take any personal fee,” Winfrey reportedly wrote on social media dismissing similar claims. “However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story,” she added.