15 Of Beyoncé's Shadiest Moments
Beyoncé Knowles is more than just a household name. She has a career that every musician wants, but very few attain: Beyoncé sells millions of records, does world tours, and has a loyal fan base. The singer has reached a stage of pop superstardom where she has anchored herself as an irreplaceable musician, who can push boundaries, take creative risks, and use her superpower to take a stand against social issues. She is globally revered for her amazing music, unrivalled work ethic, and super sweet personality. Wait - hold up! While the self-proclaimed Diva definitely is all of those things, the icon also has a hidden shady side to that sweet personality. You won't see it come out often, but when you do, you don't want to be on the receiving end of it. Here are 15 hilarious moments where she was caught acting kinda shady!
15 “Michelle's voice is sweet, but not as clear as Kelly's”
During an interview in 2004 promoting the last Destiny's Child studio album, Destiny Fulfilled, Michelle was singled out and asked what she thinks her voice “brings to the group”. Michelle, while attempting to answer this slightly bizarre and insulting question, was interjected by Beyoncé's affirmation that Michelle did not want to “talk about herself”. Beyoncé then enlightened everybody with the statement that, while Michelle does bring “soul” to the iconic girl group with her “sweet” voice, Michelle's singing voice is not “as clear as Kelly's”. “Kelly's is so clear and beautiful, but it's nice to have the difference”, Beyoncé went on to elucidate. While Beyoncé clearly seemed certain that she was fooling everybody into thinking that this was a really gracious compliment towards both of her bandmates, Michelle's comically perplexed facial expression suggested otherwise.
14 Beyoncé Is Happy That Everybody in Destiny's Child Can Finally Sing
The year 2000 was an infamously significant one for Destiny's Child. With the release of “Say My Name”'s music video in February 2000, the world was introduced to the group's two new members, Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin. It was also news to two of Destiny's Child's founding members, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, who had been exchanged by Williams and Franklin - without their knowledge. Franklin did not last long; she was scandalously cut from the line-up six months after her debut. Why? Well, it depends on who you ask. Franklin publicised that, after being hospitalized due to exhaustion and dehydration, she was exiled. Beyoncé, the bringer of truth, countered this by exposing Farrah as a flaky non-team player, and diplomatically revealing that “we all agreed that Farrah and Destiny's Child should part ways”. Beyoncé then threw Franklin and every other fallen Child under the bus, by revealing that the best part of the group's new line-up meant that “now every single one of us can sing, which has never been the case” to Wendy Williams. While Franklin spent more time in the slammer than the recording studio, LeToya Luckett proved Beyoncé wrong when her 2006 debut album went straight to number one on Billboard (a position higher than the Destiny's Child 2000 album, The Writing's on the Wall) and was even certified platinum!
13 Beyoncé Thinks the First Destiny's Child Album is Actually Her First Album as a Solo Artist
From its Internet breaking announcement to spectacular performances, Beyoncé's Formation World Tour in 2016 was a truly unforgettable moment in King B's career. One memorable moment of the tour in particular stands out, though. During the May 16th stop of the forty-nine date extravaganza, the perfectionist made a slight goof. One of the show's touching monologues is supposed to hear Beyoncé reminisce about her time as a solo performer and reflect on her first studio album, Dangerously In Love, before launching into the empowering breakup ballad “Me, Myself and I” from said LP. This particular recital however, was different; Beyoncé peculiarly categorized Destiny's Child's eponymous 1998 debut as her first album. “My first album as a solo artist is Des-“, she begins to declare, before abruptly stopping herself. Bey tries to dig herself out by then claiming that “Destiny's Child was my first album,” before bowing her head in laughter in front of the amused audience. An honest slip of the tongue? Or a shady confirmation that Beyoncé always saw herself as the one and only star of Destiny's Child, who performed her hits with an interchangeable backup crew? You decide.
12 Everybody Wants to Keep Up With Kim Kardashian - Except for Beyoncé
Since her infamous sex tape which leaked in 2007, the world has been fervently obsessed with keeping up with Kim Kardashian. By mastering the art of iconic selfies and social media whilst attaching her name to record-breaking mobile games and emoji packs, the reality star has cemented herself as a pop culture icon who is no longer just 'famous for being famous'. Despite a few rocky romances, Kardashian seems to have found 'the one' in rapper Kanye West, who just so happens to be super tight with Jay-Z and not just his little wife Beyoncé. This of course means plenty of public appearances all together but, for some reason, Bey just never looks that into Kim. She often appears irritated by Kim's presence, and as if she'd rather be spending time with somebody, anybody (even Farrah) other than Kim Kardashian. The shadiest moment of them all has to be when the Instaphobic Beyoncé candidly dropped a selfie on the day of Kimye's wedding to her 98 million Instagram followers, letting everybody know that she'd rather chill in bed with no makeup on than be at their wedding. Damn Bey, show us how you really feel!
11 Beyoncé Announces Kelly Rowland's New Job - As Blue Ivy's Babysitter
Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland have always been super close. The two, who practically grew up together, endearingly refer to each other as sisters and, naturally, always show love to each other's professional endeavors. Rowland's career as a solo artist got off to a pretty huge start and she landed a few hits, such as her collaboration with rapper Nelly, the classic R&B jam “Dilemma”. Rowland's success however quickly dried up, and later albums were tossed into bargain bins alongside other commercially challenged releases from fellow forgotten R&B chanteuses like Ciara, Ashanti, and Keyshia Cole. Also, the reception to her own girl group, June's Diary, has been rather frosty too. Despite these professional adversities, Rowland can always count on her sister Beyoncé to help her out! Beyoncé hired her former bandmate to babysit her daughter Blue Ivy; “[Kelly] came out here and babysat Blue, while I was working”, Beyoncé gleefully shared with about 20,000 BeyHive members at one of her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour dates. It's Bey's addition of “while I was working” here which really accentuates the shade, insinuating that Kelly Rowland has nothing better to do but change Blue Ivy's diapers while her successful mother sells out arenas globally.
10 Who is “Becky with the Good Hair”?!
It was quite possibly the lyric of 2016. The phrase is taken from Beyoncé's bop “Sorry”, which appeared on her career-defining visual masterpiece Lemonade. “Sorry” is a breezy hip-pop track about remaining strong during a tumultuous time in a relationship - in this particular case, infidelity. “Middle fingers up, put them hands high / Wave it in his face, tell him, boy, bye”, Bey triumphantly encouraged scorned lovers everywhere. King B closes the song by woefully admitting how “He only want me when I'm not there”, and then telling her cheating man that “He better call Becky with the good hair”. The 'Becky' comment, and “Sorry” in general, would appear to be a dig at Jay-Z, whose alleged cheating supposedly instigated the couple's infamous elevator moment in 2014. In the black community, the term 'Becky' is commonly used to describe white women, whereas “good hair” has a more historical background. The expression refers to the pressure black women feel to chemically straighten their natural hair, in order to meet white beauty standards and subsequently have 'good hair' in the eyes of white society. The scandalous lyric therefore tells Jay to go back to his basic white chick; it naturally went viral, and the words on everybody's lips after “Sorry” dropped was, quite simply, “who is Becky?” The witch hunt lead to Rachel Roy and Rita Ora being main candidates for the part, and so the BeyHive subsequently swarmed both ladies relentlessly on social media. However, contributing songwriter Diana “Wynter” Gordon squashed the claims about who 'Becky' might be as “so silly”. Shady!
9 Beyoncé Will Shade Anyone - Even The Jacksons!
Look, nobody is safe from Beyoncé's shady side. NOBODY. Not even the Jackson family. During an interview with Elle Magazine in December 2008, Beyoncé made a statement about her upbringing which read: “I grew up upper class. Private school. My dad had a Jaguar. We're African-American and we work together as a family, so people assume we're like The Jackson's. But I didn't have parents using me to get out of a bad situation.” Shady? Absolutely. Her comment about The Jacksons feels like an unnecessary addition to her answer. Plus, it simply isn't Beyoncé's place to make such an allegation about the workings of their family. How exactly would Beyoncé know anything concrete about what truly went on in the Jackson's family life? One such individual who echoed that train of thought was none other than Janet Jackson, who reportedly became enraged by Bey's flippant comment. Jackson felt as though Beyoncé “went out of her way to tell the world she's from the upper class and the Jacksons were like a bunch of dirty gutter rats.” If there's one family you don't want to piss off, it's surely the Jacksons!
8 Beyoncé Crops Out Farrah and Michelle…
The ever-private Beyoncé is not really one for social media. Her Facebook page is only utilized as a promotional platform, and the singer rarely touches Twitter. However, Bey is quite fond of Instagram, which she uses to give the BeyHive a tiny glimpse into her personal life. In February 2014, Bey shared a snap of herself with Kelly Rowland in Cancun from 2001, as part of the #ThrowbackThursday social media trend. Savvy stans were quick to notice that the image had been cropped - the original featured Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams, who were nowhere to be seen in Beyoncé's Instagram post. Considering the fact that Beyoncé does post to her Instagram account personally, it's clear that she only wanted to remember herself and her 'sister' Kelly Rowland during this moment. However, that's not to say that Kelly is also safe from the cropping tool…
7 … and Kelly Rowland Too!
Not long before Bey refused to acknowledge Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams on Instagram, Bey also decided that Kelly didn't need to be seen in a very special Instagram post. The post was another #ThrowbackThursday moment, and celebrated what would have been the late Aaliyah's 35th birthday. Beyoncé is all smiles as Aaliyah looks on in her signature moody gaze. The niceness was cancelled when Rowland also shared the same photo - except her post showed that she too was in the photo, thus revealing that Beyoncé had cut her out of her Instagram post. The move earned Beyoncé the title “Queen of Shade” on Twitter. Maybe Bey just wanted the focus to be on Aaliyah? Yeah, sure, that's it.
6 Beyoncé Had to Let a Mistaken Kelly Know That There's Only ONE Lead in Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child have certified themselves as an iconic girl group for several reasons. The threesome served LOOKS while flawlessly harmonizing, over slick R&B production, about female empowerment. However, the group's line-up was also a major talking point. Beyoncé was undeniably portrayed as the star of the group, always taking centre stage - quite literally. She was famously almost always in the middle of every video, photoshoot and live or public appearance. Beyoncé also controversially sang lead vocals on almost every single Destiny's Child song, and was even credited as a featured performer on the 'group' song "My Heart Still Beats". Beyoncé's reaction when Kelly Rowland considered herself a lead vocalist in the group should come as no surprise then. In an old clip of the group, Rowland introduced herself as the second lead vocalist of the group. As soon as those words hit her ear drums, an alarmed Beyoncé gives major side-eye to Rowland and suddenly coughs whilst looking bemused. When questioned about the clip after it went viral, ex-Child LeToya Luckett denied that it was a shady moment. Bey's face in the vintage video, however, does nothing to dispute that.
5 Bow Down, Bitches!
Before the surprise release of Beyoncé's self-titled album in 2013, Bey teased fans by randomly dropping the track “Bow Down / I Been On” early in the year. “You dreamed of being in my world… bow down, bitches” the track controversially heard Beyoncé ferociously snarl. It was a seeming dig at pretty much every naysayer in the world - least of all Keri Hilson, who the BeyHive still regularly sting for the lashings Hilson dared to give Beyoncé, in a remix to her modest urban hit “Turnin' Me On”. “Bow Down” then appeared on the Beyoncé album as an intro to the empowerment anthem “***Flawless”. The aggressively cocky lyrics, which were intended to make you “feel gangsta”, were juxtaposed with a sample from Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's renowned 2012 TEDx talk, “We Should All Be Feminists”. All this showed was that while Beyoncé wants you to feel great, she also wants to slyly remind you that you'll never be quite as great as her.
4 Beyoncé Steals the Show, Whether She's Headlining or Not
For Beyoncé's performance at the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show in February 2013, the singer allowed Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams to feast on the spotlight once again by literally elevating them on stage for a mini Destiny's Child reunion (probably a shrewd move to promote the Destiny's Child compilation album which had just been put out). After performing the iconic Destiny's Child smashes “Bootylicious” and “Independent Women” with them, the two ladies were relegated to background dancer status for a performance of Beyoncé's solo hit “Single Ladies”. Three years later, Beyoncé managed to secure a spot performing at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show, where she stole the thunder from headlining act Coldplay by debuting her black power bop “Formation”. Directly after, Beyoncé's Formation World Tour was announced. Shady, savvy, or both? Both of Beyoncé's Super Bowl appearances show that, no matter what, the attention must always be on Queen Bey.
3 Beyoncé Has “Longevity That Will Always Separate [Her] From Everyone Else” - Poor Rihanna!
Once upon a time, Beyoncé used to promote her music with traditional methods, like magazine interviews. During an interview with Complex to promote her commercial flop 4, Beyoncé was asked how comparisons to her contemporaries, like Rihanna, makes her feel. Bey's response can only be described as a backhanded compliment: “There is room on this earth for many queens… I have an authentic, God-given talent, drive, and longevity that will always separate me from everyone else. I've been fortunate to accomplish things that the younger generation of queens dream of accomplishing. I have no desire for anyone else's throne. I am very comfortable in the throne I've been building for the past 15 years.” Beyoncé cemented her shade towards this “younger generation of queens” in the same interview, when she complained that “everything sounds the same on the radio” and that 4 would bring back “classic songwriting”. With lyrics like “I don't know much about algebra / But one plus one equals two”, it's safe to say that's one of the very few things Queen Bey hasn't accomplished.
2 Beyoncé Knows That Kanye West “Was Standing Up for Art” When He Dragged Taylor Swift at the VMAs
This pop culture moment really put Taylor Swift on the map, and propelled her from the realms of country music fans to the consciousness of everybody, everywhere. In 2009, Swift won her first ever VMA award for her “You Belong with Me” music video. Beyoncé's iconic “Single Ladies” video was also a contender for the same award. What ensued during Swift's acceptance speech immediately become pop culture history. Kanye West jumped on stage, yanked the mic from Swift and declared that Beyoncé should have won because “Single Ladies” is “one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!" The event did wonders for Swift's career, but had the opposite effect for West. Beyoncé was inevitably quizzed about the messy situation, and she defended West because she “knew [Kanye's] intentions”; “I knew he was standing up for art”, she graciously stated. If we were talking about the Lemonade visuals, then Bey's remark would make sense. But, while Swift's music is not exactly ground-breaking, “You Belong with Me” is no more artistic than “Single Ladies” and its video, yet a disillusioned Bey obviously didn't see it that way; “Single Ladies” is art - and “You Belong with Me” is not.
1 Beyoncé Shows Up at Walmart After Target Wouldn't Stock Her Album
Beyoncé's December 2013 self-titled album is notorious for the way it shook up the music industry. The album famously popped up on iTunes overnight, without a single warning. The iconic release broke records on iTunes and had everybody fascinated, prompting record labels to re-evaluate the way they release albums. The surprise tactic has gone on to be replicated by other big names like Drake, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, and several others. Beyoncé's visual aspect also helped drive sales; since Beyoncé dropped with music videos for every song, it was dubiously hailed as the first 'visual album' (despite Japanese pop star Koda Kumi doing the exact same thing in 2008 for her album Kingdom). Everybody loved the ingenuity of Beyoncé's move - except for Target. The retail giant was bitter about iTunes exclusively collecting Beyoncé's lucrative initial sales, and thus decided to shun the later release of Beyoncé's physical release in an attempt to thwart its success. Pettyoncé took it one step further and aimed to hit Target where it hurt - by publically endorsing their rival company, Walmart! Beyoncé unexpectedly turned up at a Walmart store in Tewksbury, Massachussets, to do some light holiday shopping (including a crafty purchase of her new album). Beyoncé also announced that, as a Christmas treat, she would be personally compensating the 750 Walmart shoppers in store that day by paying the first $50 of their bill. The double-edged endorsement obviously made headlines across the world, and surely influenced BeyHive members to also shop at their Queen Bey's favorite store!