Music icon Beyonce has ruffled a few feathers after it was revealed that she made her comeback gig in Dubai, taking to the stage for the first time in a whopping 4 years.

The exclusive event took place at the city’s Atlantis Royal hotel, where the star performed nineteen songs for an hour and a half to a select group of high-profile individuals. 

But as you may be aware, ​​In the United Arab Emirates, same-s*x relationships are considered illegal, and therefore punishable by law for both men and women.

And with the singer’s latest album Renaissance being described as a “love letter to Black queer pioneers of dance music from the past and present,” as well as being nominated for Album of the Year, it has understandably left fans confused as to why she would perform somewhere that is so prejudice to a group she claims to be supportive of.

And to rub salt in the wound, she got paid a hell of a lot to perform, making some believe she ditched her morals for the money.

Shockingly, as the cost of living crisis continues to leave families without food and heating, the singer was paid a sickening $282,352 per minute, meaning she bagged $24 million for the eighty-five-minute performance.

With all that in mind, it makes sense why so many fans are struggling to support her decision to sing to and take money from such an oppressive country. 

Many took to social media to share their thoughts on the move, with one writing: “No beef but I’m struggling to understand why Beyoncé, who has half a billion dollars, would accept 20 million dollars to make her debut performance of the Renaissance album, a record which lifts heavily from queer culture, in Dubai, a country where LGBT rights aren’t recognized.”

They went on to say: “So many people saying ‘She didn’t perform anything from Renaissance though!’ – does that actually make a difference?

“She’s in cycle for an album indebted to queer culture. The question should be: why didn’t she? Could she?”

Another said: “Beyoncé doing a paid for press tour in Dubai doesn’t sit well with me. Especially with the influences for Renaissance being queer ballroom culture and it’s illegal and a death sentence to be gay in Dubai like????”

“Beyonce performs in #Dubai’s homophobic dictatorship,” a third added. “Ditching her own progressive values, she put a money-grabbing pay cheque before human rights.

“And sang no songs from Renaissance album, to appease anti-LGBT+ regime that has death penalty for gay s*x?”

However, not everyone agrees, one TikToker shared their anger at the backlash the singer was receiving online, saying: “Spare me the fake performative wokeism[s], because nobody said a thing when Madonna performed in Dubai, when Nicki Minaj performed in Dubai, when Janet Jackson performed in Dubai, when Lady Gaga performed in Duabi,” despite being “icons of the queer community.”

He continued “no one was mad then, why should we be mad now,” adding that “this is the problem with cancel culture. It’s funny because she didn’t even perform any of the songs from Renaissance, so why are we livid?”

What do you think?


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