Source: John Sciulli / Getty
Don’t come for Beyoncé. That’s the message her mother, Tina Knowles, shared in a scathing Instagram post after social media reacted to Beyonce’s silver carpet pictures from the premiere of the Renaissance concert film.
On the silver carpet, Beyoncé wore a long silver dress and platinum straight hair. Some commenters suggested that the Houston-born singer was “trying to be white” and was bleaching her skin. But Mama Tina wasn’t having it.
“Came across this today and decided to post it after seeing all of the stupid ignorant self, hating racist statements about her, lightening her skin, and wearing platinum hair wanting to be white,” Knowles said in a post accompanied by a video playing the song “Brown Skin Girl.” In the video, clips of Beyoncé’s many looks and hairstyles over the years were played.
“She does a film, called the renaissance, where the whole theme is silver with silver hair, a silver carpet, and suggested silver attire, and you bozos decide that she’s trying to be a white woman and is bleaching her skin?”
Knowles was especially incensed by a TMZ reporter who she says reached out to Beyonce’s hairstylist Neil Farinah to ask if he would comment on her platinum hair color.
“Well that made, my blood boil, that this white woman felt so entitled to discuss her blackness,” Knowles continued. “What’s really most disappointing is that the some Black people, yes you bozos that’s on social media. Lying and faking and acting like you’re so ignorant that you don’t understand That black women have worn platinum hair since the Etta James days.”
Knowles, who seems to have posted the words in a stream-of-consciousness because she was just that angry, defended her daughter’s work ethic and called out the “sad little haters” who she says discounted all the work that Beyoncé has done on and off stage and forgot that many artists have worn platinum hair at some point.
“I just went and looked at all the beautiful talented black celebrities who have worn platinum hair and it has been just about everyone of them at one time or another,” she said. “Are they all trying to be white? I am sick and tired of people attacking her. Every time she does something that she works her ass off for and is a statement of her work ethic , talent and resilience.”
Beyoncê’s nephew, Julez Smith, who also attended the Renaissance premiere and was photographed there with Tina Knowles, co-signed the post in the comments.
“Talk to ’em grandma. They need it,” he wrote.
Beyoncé didn’t respond – at least with words. Instead, she posted photos on her Instagram page dressed in an all-white hoodie and matching sweatpants, both solo and with husband Jay Z. Tina reposted, with the caption “Wow.”
