Background

Primarily of African American and Creole descent, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas. Her father was Xerox Corporation salesman Mathew Knowles, and her mother was hair salon owner Celestine “Tina” Beyoncé Knowles. Beyoncé displayed a talent for performing from an early age, and she became the lead singer for a group called Girl’s Tyme when she was nine. By the late 1990s, Girl’s Tyme was managed by Beyonce’s father, and in 1997 the group was renamed Destiny’s Child. “We got the word ‘destiny’ out of the Bible, but we couldn’t trademark the name, so we added ‘child,’ which is like a rebirth of destiny,” Beyonce explains.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Destiny’s Child was among the most successful musical acts in America, releasing several number-one singles and winning numerous awards. In 2002, Beyoncé was named “Songwriter of the Year” by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). All told, Destiny’s Child sold more than 60 million records worldwide before disbanding in 2006.

Starting in 2003, Beyoncé launched an even more successful solo career in music. Her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. alone. Altogether, Beyoncé has sold over 200 million albums from her solo career. And as of 2023, she had won a record 32 Grammy Awards with 88 nominations.

Close Ties to the Obamas

Along with her billionaire husband, music mogul Jay-Z, Beyoncé has long been an outspoken supporter of the Democratic Party and leftwing political causes. The couple first became especially vocal about politics when Barack Obama ran for president in 2007-2008. Beyoncé stated that she had “never [before] been so patriotic” as the moment she witnessed Obama’s 2008 victory. “I fell asleep crying and smiling at the same time,” she said of Election Night 2008. Beyoncé performed for both Barack and Michelle Obama at the presidential inaugural ball in January 2009, and she sang the national anthem at Obama’s second inauguration in January 2013. Personal friends to the Obamas, Beyoncé and Jay-Z have attended countless celebrity-filled Obama events like White House gatherings and birthday parties.

In 2011, Beyoncé partnered with First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative against childhood obesity.

In April 2012, Beyoncé penned a handwritten letter to Michelle Obama in which she called the First Lady “the ultimate example of a truly strong African American woman” who was also “humble, loving, and sincere.” She ended her note by saying: “Michelle, thank you so much for every single thing that u do for us – I am proud to have my daughter grow up in a world where she has people like you to look up to.”

In September 2012, Beyoncé and Jay-Z helped campaign on behalf of President Obama’s re-election bid. For instance, the couple hosted an upscale Manhattan fundraiser that cost $40,000 per head for admittance and collected a total of $4 million in donations. When introducing Obama to those in attendance, Beyoncé said: “I can’t tell you how proud we are to host tonight’s event with President Obama…. We believe in his vision.”

Just prior to Obama’s re-election victory in November 2012, Beyoncé published an open letter thanking the president for his “heart and character.” “You are the leader to take us from where we are to where we need to be,” she wrote. Her signature at the end of the letter was preceded by the phrase, “All my Respect and Adoration.”

In April 2013, the Obama administration granted Beyoncé and Jay-Z the opportunity to spend their anniversary in Cuba despite long-standing travel restrictions that barred Americans from visiting the Communist nation.

Receiving $2 Million from Muammar Gaddafi’s Family

On January 5, 2010, Mediaite reported that Beyoncé had just received $2 million for a New Year’s Eve performance which she gave in the Caribbean paradise of Saint Barthelémy for family members of then-Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. That payment was made by Gaddafi’s son, Hannibal, who organized the event. Notably, the younger Gaddafi had beaten his wife just a few days earlier in a London hotel, giving her a broken nose in the process.

Gun Control

In response to a December 2012 mass shooting that killed 26 innocent people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Beyoncé joined numerous celebrities in a pro-gun-control PSA video on behalf of Michael Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns,” an organization that would later merge with “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America” to form “Everytown for Gun Safety.”

“Modern-Day Feminist”

In early 2013, Beyoncé told Vogue magazine that she identified as a “modern-day feminist.”

Endorsing Gay Marriage

Beyoncé publicly endorsed same-sex marriage in a March 26, 2013 Instagram post that read, “If you like it you should be able to put a ring on it.”

“Justice for Trayvon Martin”

In July 2013, Beyoncé and Jay-Z attended a “Justice for Trayvon Martin” demonstration in Manhattan to protest the acquittal of Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman.[1]  The couple also met with Al Sharpton as well as Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton.

Use of Audio from the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

In December 2013, Beyoncé was heavily criticized for incorporating audio from the 1986 explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger – in which seven NASA astronauts had died shortly after takeoff during a live broadcast — into her newly released song, “XO.”

Blocking the Image of Christ in The Last Supper

Days later, Beyoncé stirred additional controversy when she posted to Instagram a photo that showed her deliberately blocking the image of Jesus Christ in Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.

Homage to Black Lives Matter & the Black Panthers

During her “Super Bowl 50” halftime-show performance in February 2016, Beyoncé paid tribute to radical left-wing groups like the Black Panther Party and Black Lives Matter. With Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California serving as the venue for that year’s Super Bowl, Beyoncé’s backup dancers wore black outfits with black berets to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the Black Panthers’ founding in nearby Oakland. Louis Farrakhan praised Beyoncé’s display and announced that if police were ever to balk at providing her with protection during her future concerts or appearances, the Nation of Islam would make its own “Fruit of Islam” security team available to help her instead.

Music with Leftist Themes

In April 2016, Beyoncé released an album titled Lemonade, which featured numerous leftwing themes such as anti-police rhetoric, radical feminism, black nationalism, and promiscuity.

Portraying America & Police Officers As Racist

In response to a pair of highly publicized police shootings that killed two black criminal suspects in July 2016 — one in Louisiana and one in Minnesota — Beyoncé authored an open letter on her website that said, in part: “We are sick and tired of the killings of young men and women in our communities. It is up to us to take a stand and demand that they ‘stop killing us.’ We don’t need sympathy. We need everyone to respect our lives. We’re going to stand up as a community and fight against anyone who believes that murder or any violent action by those who are sworn to protect us should consistently go unpunished.”

That same month, Beyoncé appeared alongside numerous leftwing celebrities in a PSA video titled, “23 Ways You Could Be Killed If You Are Black In America.”

Soon after the infamous May 25, 2020 death of a black Minneapolis man named George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer, Beyoncé took to Instagram to condemn the United States as a nation infested with racism. Among her remarks were the following:

• “We’re broken and we’re disgusted.We cannot normalize this pain. I’m not only speaking to people of color. If you’re white, black, brown and anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now.”
• “No more senseless killings of human beings. No more seeing people of color as less than human. We can no longer look away. George [Floyd] is all of our family and humanity. He is our family because he is a fellow American.”
• “There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings and no consequences. Yes, someone’s been charged, but justice is far from being achieved.”

While accepting the BET Humanitarian Award in June 2020, Beyoncé urged her fans and followers to “continue to change and dismantle a racist and unequal system.” She also stated that those who were “marching” and “fighting for change” in the George Floyd protests that had swept the country in recent weeks, were heroically “proving to our ancestors that their struggles were not in vain.”

Ties to the Clintons

On her 35th birthday in September 2016, Beyoncé was seen spending time with Bill Clinton backstage during Jay-Z’s “Made in America” music festival.

At a rally just prior to the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton enlisted the support Beyoncé and other hip-hop artists in calling for increased black voter turnout in Ohio.

Supporting Colin Kaepernick

In December 2017, Beyoncé presented far-left activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick with Sports Illustrated’’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for social justice. “Thank you, Colin Kaepernick,” she stated. “Thank you for your selfless heart. And your conviction. Thank you for your personal sacrifice. Colin took action with no fear of consequences or repercussions, only hope to change the world for the better.”

Supporting Beto O’Rourke

In 2018, Beyoncé backed Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke in his failed attempt to unseat Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

Refusing to Stand for the National Anthem at Super Bowl

Jay-Z and Beyoncé both remained seated during the playing of the American national anthem at Super Bowl 54 in February 2020. Months earlier, the National Football League had partnered with Jay-Z to promote “social justice” causes.

Supporting the WHO Despite Its Ties to China

In April 2020, Beyoncé participated in a virtual concert that raised more than $55 million on behalf of the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO). “This [corona]virus is killing black people at an alarmingly high rate here in America,” she said during the event. The concert took place after President Trump had announced that the U.S. might temporarily stop its funding of the WHO due to the organization’s: (a) mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (b) noteworthy ties to China.

Supporting Biden-Harris in 2020

Beyoncé endorsed the Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 presidential race.

Massive Hypocrisy Regarding the “Queer Community”

After winning a record 32nd Grammy Award in February 2023, Beyoncé thanked the “queer community” in her acceptance speech. But just the month before, she had given a $24 million concert in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — a nation where same-sex activity is punishable by death. Notably, Beyoncé in her UAE concert did not perform any songs from her recently released Renaissance album, which leftwing reviewers had lauded for “honoring” the “black queer culture.”

Renaissance World Tour

In May 2023, Beyoncé launched her Renaissance World Tour with a backdrop that featured the “Progress Pride Flag.”

Beyoncé’s Enormous Wealth

In August 2017, Beyoncé and Jay-Z purchased a 30,000-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion for $88 million.

In May 2023, Beyoncé and Jay-Z reportedly paid $200 million for a Malibu mansion — the most expensive home purchase in California history.

As of 2023, Beyoncé had amassed a net worth of $540 million.

Footnotes:

1. Zimmerman was a 28-year-old “white Hispanic” man who, in February 2012, had shot and killed Martin, a 17-year-old African-American.