Beyoncé rep, Yvette Schure, is subtly supporting the singer following Erykah Badu’s criticisms.
“She slays. She slays. Now. Then. Always. act ii COWBOY CARTER 3.29 #criticswithoutcredentials,” Schure captioned an Instagram video on Wednesday, March 20.
The short clip featured photos of Beyoncé, 42, sporting braided hairstyles at various moments throughout her career. The video ended with the vinyl album cover for Beyoncé’s forthcoming record, Cowboy Carter. (The vinyl album cover was released on Wednesday and features a naked Beyoncé wearing a red, white and blue sash that reads, “act ii beyincé.” She was holding what appeared to be a lit cigar and her hair was in long braids.)
Schure’s video appeared to be a reply to Badu’s recent social media posts. Badu, 53, reposted Beyoncé’s album cover on Wednesday, writing, “Hmmm,” alongside the image. She followed up the initial story with various shady clips, including one video that featured a dog in cowboy boots.
Badu received a barrage of hate online after she appeared to criticize Beyoncé, seemingly bringing Badu to take k to X and send a message to Jay-Z.
“To Jay Z . Say somethin Jay,” she wrote on Wednesday. “You gone let this woman and these bees do this to me ?? 😆.”
This is hardly the first time Badu has publicly criticized Beyoncé. In August 2023, she alluded to Beyoncé copying her style after the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer wore an oversized silver hat on tour. “I guess I’m everybody stylist,” Badu wrote on Instagram at the time, referring to a similar hat that she’s been sporting for years.
Beyoncé has had to navigate a lot of feedback since announcing Cowboy Carter last month with the release of “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” during Super Bowl LVIII.
“Today marks the 10-day countdown until the release of Act II,” she wrote via Instagram on March 19. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of the supporters of ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ and ‘16 Carriages.’ I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart.”
She added, “That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”
Beyoncé said that this album “has been over five years in the making” and “was born out of an experience” that she had in the past.
“I did not feel welcomed … and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” she wrote, seemingly referring the song “Daddy Lessons” from her Lemonade album. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.”
