Beyonce is in hot soup over her private Dubai show which was only for A-listers. The singer is said to have made $24 million during the show which marked the opening of luxury hotel Atlantis The Royal.
The singer’s latest album, Renaissance is a tribute to black queer culture and her fans are conflicted about her performing in a country where same sex relationships are against the law. Homosexuality is punishable by death in the United Arab Emirates.
“It seems like a misguided choice from her. She’s obviously a multimillionaire anyway. She didn’t really need to do this, she didn’t really need the money.”
Expensive Dubai show
New York City restaurateur Keith McNally said that the next time Beyonce came to dine at Balthazar he would give her a “table next to the kitchen”. He is definitely angry about the Dubai show!
Co-founder of British advocacy group LGB Alliance Bev Jackson said that the Grammy-winning star’s outing ‘cast a a shadow over her support for lesbians and gay people’.
“Beyonce is a huge icon for many gay people. LGB Alliance is deeply therefore disappointed that Beyonce has agreed to give a lucrative concert in Dubai, where same-sex acts are a criminal offense, potentially punishable by death,” said Jackson.
During her performance in Dubai her daughter Blue Ivy joined her on stage briefly. Many people were excited to see her on stage again as she hasn’t performed live since 2018. Her set list includes hits from her past albums such as XO, Crazy in Love, Beautiful Liar and Drunk in Love.
Short changed
Despite many fans feeling like she sold them out for performing in a country like Dubai, some people did defend her. Transgender TS Madison told TMZ that she supports the star’s decision to perform in the Dubai show.
“People go to Dubai for many different reasons, and a lot of LGBTQIA people go to Dubai for a lot of those reasons. And Beyonce went there for some of those same reasons. She went there to make her money. Everybody that loves Beyonce and everybody that knows Beyonce knows that Beyonce loves the community, she dedicated an entire album which his the album of the year to her fans, to the people that she loves.”