Heading into the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, it was rumored that Beyoncé was to be a surprise guest, and was going to perform in support of Presidential nominee Kamala Harris. So, what happened?
Rumors began circulating on social media that the superstar singer may be a guest entertainer at the DNC. Those rumors gained traction when White House political director Emmy Ruiz posted an emoji of a bee — allegedly suggesting in cryptic terms that the Queen Bey rumors were true.
Many major news sources pointed this out, but then TMZ reported that it was indeed happening. In fact, their headline was anything but cryptic, and didn’t even leave it a possibility that it was untrue. The headline read, “Beyoncé Performing At DNC’s Final Night!!!”
Within the article, TMZ claimed, “Multiple sources in the know tell us Queen Bey will be the big surprise performer as VP Harris officially accepts the Democratic party’s nomination to run for president.”
Who were TMZ’s “sources?” Were they just assuming what everyone else assumed, which is that Ruiz’ post was practical confirmation that Beyoncé would be there?
However, less than hour after TMZ’s announcement, a representative for Beyoncé told The Hollywood Reporter that the singer was not attending the DNC, nor was she ever scheduled to.
Kamala Harris had received permission from Beyoncé to use her song “Freedom,” and the Vice President took the stage last night with that song blasting through the speakers. However, there was no Beyoncé performance or appearance.
TMZ even had their post on X community noted — which basically means it was corrected by others. So, what did TMZ and, for that matter, Emmy Ruiz have to say about their posts?
Humorously, about an hour after her bee post, Emmy Ruiz replied to it by apologizing and claiming her 6-year old took her phone. So, her 6-year old managed to post one single bee emoji amidst all of the Beyoncé rumors? Some replied suggesting the fracas was designed to get even more people to watch the DNC. Perhaps it was, especially considering that Ruiz didn’t exactly delete the post, and replies aren’t always seen unless you actually click on the post. She would’ve been better served to delete it and make an original post saying as much, and use a better excuse than blaming her child.
TMZ didn’t do much to make up for the completely inaccurate info, either. They simply posted and updated the article with one additional line that reads, “To quote the great Beyoncé: We gotta lay our cards down, down, down … we got this one wrong.”
The false reporting is more than likely an example of how social media can, in fact, influence some trusted media sources. TMZ took a risk, and it did not pay off. They don’t seem too troubled by it though, nor does it appear that they’re taking much heat. And hey, so long as their traffic numbers are good, what’s a little erroneous clickbait?
The other reality is that people have become so accustomed to inaccurate information on social media now that they are rarely surprised when something they read on it turns out to not be true. Though, in this case, part of the problem was that so many people really, really, really wanted it to be true.
Published: Aug 23, 2024 02:59 pm