Beyoncé’s Dad Once Implied That Solange and Jay-Z’s Infamous Elevator Incident Was Just a PR Stunt
About six years ago, the Beyhive was left shook after surveillance footage of Beyoncé’s sister, Solange, attacking Jay-Z inside an elevator surfaced online. While it definitely seemed like major drama went down that night, Mathew Knowles claims that what we saw was just a “Jedi mind trick” orchestrated by Bey and Jay just for publicity.
A look back at the fight between Solange and Jay-Z
In 2014, rumors surfaced that Beyoncé and Jay-Z were experiencing marital issues. Then, the elevator fight happened, which only furthered those speculations.
The incident took place right after that year’s Met Gala. As Jay, Bey, and her sister Solange stood inside an elevator after attending an after-party for the event, a huge fight broke out between the “Don’t Touch My Hair” singer and her brother-in-law.
As Solange was violently hitting and kicking the rapper while he held kept her at arm’s length, Beyoncé just stood back and watched from the sidelines.
Eventually, security guards intervened and held Solange back from landing another hit as she continued to yell at Jay-Z.
People have been speculating what the fight was all about
After video footage of the altercation was shared with the public (thanks to TMZ), fans began to wonder what pushed Solange to physically attack Jay-Z inside an elevator.
While some believe that the singer was standing up for her sister, others were convinced that Solange was just under the influence of alcohol and acted out of character.
Although the trio has refused to say much about the incident, they have dropped a few hints that have helped fans put pieces of the puzzle together and figure out why Solange attacked Jay-Z that night.
In 2014, Beyoncé referenced the fight in her 2014 song “Flawless,” in which she sang: “Of course sometimes sh*t goes down when there’s a billion dollars on an elevator.”
Two years later, she dropped her highly anticipated visual album, Lemonade, which talked about a dishonest significant other and also mentioned an unnamed “Becky with good hair.”
After listening to the album in its entirety, fans were convinced that Jay-Z had been unfaithful to Beyoncé and believed that that was the reason Solange attacked him in the elevator.
Jay’s infidelity rumors were eventually confirmed in 2018 when he admitted to David Letterman during an interview that he had cheated on his wife during their marriage.
Mathew Knowles says the fight was a ticket-selling stunt
Though drama such as this doesn’t seem like it can be faked or orchestrated, Beyoncé’s dad, Mathew Knowles, previously claimed that that is precisely what it was.
While appearing on Houston’s Roula and Ryan Show back in 2014, Knowles opened up about his daughters’ tabloid-filled summer. When the hosts brought up the infamous elevator incident, Bey’s former manager implied that the whole ordeal was just a publicity stunt presumably orchestrated by the Queen Bey herself and Jay-Z to drive ticket sales for their 2014 “On The Run” tour.
RELATED: How Mathew Knowles Reacted to Jay-Z and Solange’s Elevator Fight
“[They needed something to] ignite that tour. It’s called a Jedi mind trick,” he said. “A Jedi mind trick fools you a lot of the time. All I know is everyone is talking about it. Ticket sales went up, Solange’s album sales went up 200 percent.”
Whether Bey and Jay organized the elevator fight to spark interest in their tour or not, tickets still sold out within minutes, which is nothing new for the couple’s joint concerts.
But if Knowles’ claims actually are true, that goes to show that Beyoncé and Jay-Z definitely are jacks of all trades.
