Ts Madison defends Beyoncé after LGBTQ+ fans slam Dubai show: ‘She went and got her bag’
Ts Madison said Beyoncé hasn’t sold out “because she loves her fans”. (Getty Images)
Ts Madison has defended Beyoncé following backlash from the LGBTQ+ community after the singer reportedly accepted a $24m payout for a private concert in Dubai.
The pop icon has been the subject of fierce criticism following her decision to perform the private show at the opening of the Atlantis The Royal in the United Arab Emirates city on Saturday night (21 January).
While many fans were excited by the gig, which marks Beyoncé’s first live performance in over four years, many have been disappointed by the singer’s choice to perform in a country with such notoriously oppressive anti-LGBTQ+ policies, given that she has positioned herself an an LGBTQ+ ally. In the United Arab Emirates, homosexuality is illegal and considered a crime punishable by death.
Beyoncé has got one vocal supporter, though. Speaking to TMZ, TV personality and guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15, Ts Madison, defended the singer’s performance at the opening of the hotel.
The exchange began when the TMZ crew about Madison about her thoughts on the controversy.
“There are a lot of fans who just feel like she – the word that was used – was that ‘she sold out.’ That’s the phrase people are using. What is your take on this, and the LGBTQ community, do they have a right to be upset with her?”
“Beyoncé is a superstar,” the trans activist replied, before making the point that she travelled to Dubai to work and make money.
“People go to Dubai for many different reasons, and a lot of LGBTQIA people go to Dubai for a lot of those reasons. You know, Beyoncé went there for some of those same reasons. She went there to make her money.”
“Everybody that loves Beyoncé and everybody that knows Beyoncé knows that Beyoncé loves the community,” she added. “And not just loves the community. She dedicated an entire album which is, like, the album of the year to her fans, to the people that she loved. So, I personally saw it as she went and got her bag.”
The TMZ interviewer then responded: “You’re right, but that does sound like it’s kind of the definition of selling out.”
“I wouldn’t say she sold out because she loves her fans,” Madison replied. “But tell me, I wanna ask any one of those folks over there if they were given $24 million – I heard it was $35 million. That’s what I heard.”
“Any one of those girls would put on their wig, hair, makeup, lashes, and run right over there to the Atlantis Hotel and gather their $35 million and come right on back home. It’s still the same love for her fans. I’m not mad at her getting her money. She didn’t wave anti-LGBTQ flags, you know? She put on a concert, she got her money, and these were her fans.”
Ts Madison continued her defence of Beyoncé on Twitter, asking angry fans: “So y’all gone be mad At @Beyonce when she Perform on her tour in those US States that have anti LGBTQ laws in place?”
Long considered an ally and activist for the LGBTQ+ community, Beyoncé’s most recent album, Renaissance, was widely viewed as a love letter to the queer community through its references to the ballroom scene, the Progress Pride flag and Beyoncé’s uncle Jonny; a gay family friend who died of complications related to an AIDS diagnosis.
The singer’s performance follows the highly controversial FIFA world cup in Qatar. The Gulf Nation state banned teams from wearing rainbow armbands in support of the LGBTQ+ community, refused entry for a cameraman wearing a rainbow strap for his Apple Watch and “blackmailed” several teams into not demonstrating their resistance against Qatar’s poor human rights record.
