For the past few years, Beyoncé has mostly taken a “keep quiet and let it blow over” approach to whatever rumour might be going round about her at any given time.
Thankfully, the music legend’s mum Tina Knowles is less selective about when to speak out.
On Sunday, Tina set the record straight about widespread false claims that Beyoncé had been paid as much as $10 million (around £7.9 million) to deliver a speech at a rally for Kamala Harris shortly before the US presidential election this month.
“So this has been flagged on Instagram as fake news and taken down. It’s called false information. Sadly other platforms with a lack of integrity still have it up,” Tina wrote, alongside a screenshot of Conservative pundit Candace Owens’ Instagram page.
“The lie is that Beyoncé was paid 10 million dollars to speak at a rally in Houston for vice president Kamala Harris. When In Fact: Beyoncé did not receive a penny for speaking at presidential candidate vice president Kamala Harrris’s rally in Houston.”
“In fact she actually paid for her own flights for her and her team, and total glam,” Tina added, insisting that right-wing critics are “not only lying and disrespecting Beyoncé’s name, but they are trying to further discredit the power of our vice president”.
“When do the lies and rumours stop?” the House of Deréon founder questioned.
“Let ’em know, Ms Tina!” singer John Legend wrote in the comments, adding: “We all performed/appeared for free because we care about our nation’s future.”
“I know you care deeply about this country,” Tina later responded.
Having already been a vocal supporter of the Democrats in several past elections, Beyoncé joined Kamala Harris on stage at a campaign event in the Grammy winner’s hometown of Houston, Texas last month.
“I’m not here as a celebrity. I’m not here as a politician,” Bey told the 30,000 people reported by Harris’ presidential campaign to be in attendance.
She added: “I’m here as a mother, a mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided.”