Beyonce fans demand answers after DNC ‘no show’ as internet explodes with speculation over who started fake rumors she would appear
Beyoncé fans flooded the internet with memes after rumors circulated that she would perform at the Democratic National Convention, but she didn’t show up.
There was speculation that the pop star would endorse Kamala Harris for president and that she would sing for the convention audience on Thursday night.
Just hours before Harris’ nomination speech, TMZ claimed that Beyoncé was indeed a guest star, after Harris’ campaign let her use her song Freedom in their ads.
But then rival outlet Hollywood Reporter reported that a cameo was never worked on, a spokesperson said.
Yvette Noel-Schure, Beyoncé’s longtime publicist, reposted The Hollywood Reporter’s account after ignoring inquiries from news organizations including DailyMail.com.
The pop culture-filled Democratic National Convention ended in disappointment when the rumor that Beyoncé would appear for Vice President Kamala Harris never came to fruition
There was speculation that the pop star would endorse Kamala Harris for president and sing for the convention audience Thursday night — before it was washed away
It is unclear exactly how the rumor started, and why cold water was only poured on it at the last minute.
The memes started out seriously, as they always do, with jokes about Beyoncé arriving but changing her mind in the parking lot and leaving, or sleeping through the entire convention.
Another photo showed the singer and Taylor Swift eating popcorn in an empty theater as they joked about watching the Democratic National Convention at home.
Others showed clips of Joe Biden angrily criticizing Donald Trump in a speech, as if attacking the one who spread the rumor about Beyoncé.
The memes started out seriously, as they always do, with the joke that Beyoncé arrived but changed her mind in the parking lot and left, or slept through the convention
Another showed the singer and Taylor Swift eating popcorn in an empty theater, joking that they were watching the DNC from home
TMZ eventually admitted that “we were wrong about this” and that it had been taken in by the false rumors
Another had a clip from the TV show Succession, in which Roman Roy grew increasingly concerned as a flood of emails flooded his inbox. He joked that he was the DNC’s social media manager, keeping tabs on the growing speculation on Twitter.
And even more memes claimed that the DNC was spreading the rumor so that people would actually watch the convention. Some admitted that it helped them.
A report pointed out that there were many more events this year that Beyoncé was falsely rumored to be attending, including the Olympics and Coachella.
TMZ eventually admitted that they had “misunderstood” and had acted on the false rumors.
A Republican spokesman for the House Ways & Means Committee, JP Freire, suggested that Democrats “misled” people into watching the DNC with the Beyoncé rumor
Some people joked — but others voiced more serious criticism — that Democrats were using Beyoncé as bait to lure Americans to their convention.
“Did you see how they fooled you into thinking there was a special guest so you would stay?” asked J.P. Freire, a Republican spokesman for the House Ways & Means Committee. “What do you think their policy approach is going to be?”
One user posted a video clip of President Joe Biden attending the first night of the convention and then leaving for a vacation in California, captioning it, “To whoever started the rumor that Beyoncé was going to be the special guest of the presidential election.”
“Who does he think he is? Who does he think he is?” Biden roars.
Another X user posted a video of actor Kieran Culkin watching his computer go crazy.
“The man who runs the DNC social media accounts watches posts speculating about TayTay and Beyoncé’s surprise appearance while George W. Bush is backstage painting a watercolor of Kamala,” the post read.
Journalists joked that there was a special guest, but the audience missed it.
“I can’t believe the special guest was Leon Panetta,” posted Peter Hamby of Puck News. “I’ll always remember where I was.”
Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report joked, “The special guests were the friends we made along the way.”
Before Beyoncé dropped out, Republican Senator Mitt Romney joked that he was not the Democrats’ special guest.
“Contrary to fake news reports, I will not be the surprise guest at the DNC tonight,” Romney posted. “I think it will be Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. So disappointing, I know!”