Back in February, Beyonce caused quite a bit of conversation when she dropped her “Formation” video before Super Bowl 50. When that video was coupled with her Black Panther homage of a Super Bowl performance, hot-take purveyors across the land were lining up to call Beyonce “anti-police.” The nonsense went so far that several police unions threatened to boycott off-duty security roles for her Formation tour. Beyonce has finally responded to her critics in an interview with Elle.
Though the interview hasn’t dropped in full yet, the BeyHive has managed to uncover a copy of it. Check out the relevant excerpt below:
“I mean, I’m an artist and I think the most powerful art is usually misunderstood. But anyone who perceives my message as anti-police is completely mistaken. I have so much admiration and respect for officers and the families of the officers who sacrifice themselves to keeps us safe. But let’s be clear: I am against police brutality and injustice. Those are two separate things. If celebrating my roots and culture during Black History Month made anyone uncomfortable, those feelings were there long before a video and long before me. I’m proud of what we created and I’m proud to be part of a conversation that is pushing things forward in a positive way.”
Bey is very calculated in the way she opens herself up to the media. She never lets a word fall out of place, so you can believe that casual “long before me” line is meant to sound off like a bigot alarm. Of course, anyone who wasn’t letting their prejudice cloud their judgement could see that the song was clearly anti-police brutality, as “Stop shooting us” should be a message that everyone can get behind.
