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Beyoncé didn’t sing ‘Black national anthem’ at an NFL game; the claim is satire
If Your Time is short
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This performance never happened. This claim stemmed from a satirical piece published in September 2023.
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Here’s how PolitiFact chooses which statements to fact-check.
After Beyoncé announced new music on the day of the Super Bowl LVIII, social media users are stirring up rumors of a conflict between the global superstar and the National Football League.
"Beyoncé faces nearly $10 billion loss following ‘Black national anthem’ performance at NFL," read the text in a Feb. 13 Facebook post.
(Screenshot from Facebook)
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Featured Fact-check
In the comments, the post’s author linked to a nostalgianews24.com article with a headline identical to the claim. The article claimed that after Beyoncé performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" at an NFL game, a "sizable portion" of Beyoncé’s fanbase, dubbed the "Beyhive," sought membership fee refunds amounting to $1 billion.
But the text comes from a September 2023 article published by SpaceXMania, a satirical site. Its "About Us" page reads, "Quick heads up, though — every single article on our site is about as real as a unicorn sipping on a rainbow smoothie. They’re pure fantasy, folks, not a snapshot of reality."
Beyoncé performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" at the Coachella music festival in Indio, California, in 2018. We found no evidence in news reports or Google or Nexis database searches that such a performance by Beyoncé occurred at an NFL game.
Beyoncé is not facing nearly $10 billion in losses after singing the "Black national anthem" at an NFL game, because that performance didn’t happen. We rate that claim Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Facebook post, Feb. 13, 2024
Nostalgianews24.com, Beyoncé Faces Nearly $10 Billion Loss Following ‘Black National Anthem’ Performance at NFL, Feb. 13, 2024
SpaceXMania, Just in: Beyoncé Faces Nearly $10 Billion Loss Following ‘Black National Anthem’ Performance at NFL, Sept. 12, 2023
SpaceXMania, About Us, accessed Feb. 14, 2024
The Washington Post, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’: The story behind the ‘black national anthem’ that Beyoncé sang, April 16. 2018
Snopes, Is Beyoncé Facing $10B Loss After 'Black National Anthem' NFL Performance?, Nov. 6, 2023
Reuters, Fact Check: Claims Beyonce got ‘booed’ and banned singing at NFL game are satirical, Jan. 18, 2024
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Beyoncé didn’t sing ‘Black national anthem’ at an NFL game; the claim is satire
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