Americans on social media are going through it after a rumor that Beyoncé would perform at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) turned out to be false.
Prior to Thursday evening, speculation exploded online that an unprecedented musical performance would take place on the final day of the DNC. While initially many assumed that Taylor Swift would appear, TMZ later reported that the one and only Beyoncé would close out the show.
Fans of the singer tuned in en masse, impatiently waiting for the end of the evening. But as it turns out, Beyoncé wasn’t the surprise musical guest. In fact, there was no surprise musical guest at all. The event closed out, as was always the plan, with remarks from Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Needless to say, the BeyHive, the name for Beyoncé’s fans, were less than thrilled.
“Kamala about to lose the election not bc of Palestine but bc TMZ lied to us about Beyoncé lmao,” X user @raesanni wrote.
Many simply questioned who in the world started the rumor to begin with.
“whoever started the lie about Beyoncé attending the DNC, you will begin to cough in 3 days,” @fesityfrank said.
Others argued, although there is no evidence, that the DNC started the rumor itself in order to get more viewers.
“teasing a huge surprise guest and leaking that it’s both beyonce and taylor swift just to get people to tune in is actually kind of funny,” @LEBassett said.
The rumor appears to have first blown up thanks to an anonymous Trump “Resistance” White House staffer, one of those Twitter users who claimed throughout the administration they were secretly fighting the good fight (anonymously, online, through posting).
“I’ve been sworn to secrecy, but you don’t want to miss the DNC tonight. If you thought the Oprah surprise was big, just wait,” they wrote.
The account eventually deleted their tweet after it went mega-viral in the lead-up to the event, and then apologized, claiming their “sources” weren’t prone to hyperbole.
“Re: special guest rumor—I’m not sure where it started, but the people who told me aren’t prone to hyperbole. FWIW, Beyoncé was the rumor. Makes me feel a little better that Reuters, TMZ, The Hill, and other outlets also reported it, but either way—I apologize. I don’t like giving bad information, and that’s on me. Mea culpa,” they wrote.
When people criticized the account, for helping start the frenzy, they denied it, citing media reporting.
“You think I started a rumor that made it to multiple media outlets who have sources inside both parties. That’s quite a bit of power you think I’ve got. Either way, I was wrong here and I’ll take the heat for it,” they wrote, although media outlets wouldn’t be attempting to suss out the identity of a mystery guess had it not blown up online.
And of course, in typical fashion, many relied on memes to cope with the disappointment.
The closest viewers came to seeing Beyoncé perform was at the end of the DNC when the singer’s 2016 hit “Freedom” blared over the loudspeakers.
Despite the rumor, Beyoncé was never going to show up. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, the pop star’s rep said that she “was never scheduled to be there” in the first place. But it didn’t help that earlier on Thursday, White House political director Emily Ruiz tweeted out a bee emoji, which many saw as a reference to the BeyHive. Ruiz later claimed that her six-year-old child was responsible for the tweet.
While Beyoncé may very well perform for Harris in the future, it’s unclear whether fans will forgive Democrats anytime soon.
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