Beyoncé is apparently also the queen of shutting down negative remarks about other musicians.
The Queen Bey was celebrated on social media this week for refusing to insult Britney Spears in a resurfaced interview clip posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.
During the 2007 interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Beyoncé discussed being in her mid-20s and having ample time to take on a different career path should she have decided to do so.
Interviewer Liam Bartlett then brought Spears into the conversation, saying that the same could have been said about Spears, as the two women are just three months apart in age.
“And look at the difference, complete disaster,” he said, referencing Spears.
“Well, I mean, people handle different things differently,” Beyoncé responded. “And thank God I’ve been surrounded by honesty, and thank God I’ve chosen to still be around people that I trust.”
She continued, “It’s really difficult when you’re a celebrity to know the difference.”
A fan page for Spears that posted the clip on X credited Beyoncé for defending the Gimme More singer.
Other commenters said that the Break My Soul singer handled the interview professionally, and with grace.
The “60 Minutes” interview was conducted the same year Spears shaved her head amid a very public breakdown. The “Womanizer” singer notably became the subject of cruel tabloid fodder, and was routinely ridiculed on late night TV.
Beyoncé not only demonstrated compassion toward Spears in the “60 Minutes” interview, she made a poignant point about the importance of having a strong support system.
Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship in 2008, amid a series of public struggles. Her father, Jamie Spears, was assigned as her conservator for most of the duration of the arrangement, which was dissolved in 2021.
The singer has since publicly criticised her family for the conservatorship, calling it “abusive.”
Spears discusses the arrangement in her new memoir, The Woman in Me, writing that it upended her “entire life,” The New York Times reported.