In 2011, Beyonce made one of the biggest decisions of her career when she decided to fire her father Mathew Knowles as her manager as she struck a deal with her husband Jay-Z’s Live Nation that would once and for all dissolve any further business ties with her father.
According to reports, Beyonce had gotten sick and tired of working with her dad, who was accused of allegedly embezzling money from the singer’s I Am… World Tour, which ran from 2009 to 2010 and accumulated $143 million in revenue.
Mathew asserted that Live Nation had been feeding his daughter lies that millions of dollars had vanished under the 69-year-old’s watch, adding that they supposedly planted a smear campaign against him to fully manage Beyonce’s career without his involvement.
Whatever the case may be, though, Beyonce also took issue with her father after her mother Tina Knowles filed for divorce back in November 2009. Mathew was accused of living a double life by enjoying an 18-month affair, during which time his fling Alexsandra Wright had learned she was pregnant with his baby.
Beyonce hasn’t shared the best relationship with her dad in the last 10 years considering all that’s happened. But where does the pair’s bond stand today and are they still somewhat close? Here’s the lowdown…
Beyonce’s Estranged Relationship With Her Dad
Well, it’s no secret that the “Single Ladies” hitmaker is nowhere near as close to Mathew as she used to be.
After wrapping her I Am… World Tour, millions in revenue had disappeared and the blame was pushed on Mathew, who was already making a huge cut as manager and director.
According to court documents, Mathew had “pilfered her [Beyonce] funds while he was her manager,” Rolling Stone writes. This was then confirmed by an audit which had been conducted by Bey’s legal team, prompting in the manager’s firing from his role.
Mathew was adamant that he had nothing to do with money from the tour going missing, despite an investigation into the situation saying otherwise. Live Nation was later hired to take over Mathew’s job as the singer’s manager ever since.
"I have absolutely have not taken any money from Beyonce, and all dollars will be accounted for,” Mathew had told The Associated Press in 2011. "In no way have we stole money. Again, this about the people who have made these claims -- they have to come into the light.”
All of this drama occurred just two years after Beyonce’s mom had filed for divorce, but the process wasn’t finalized until 2011.
Their split was brought upon by Mathew’s two-year-long affair with Alexsandra Wright whom he would later welcome a child with. The situation was inexcusable and prompted a rift between Mathew and his daughters.
Tina, who was married to Mathew for 33 years was devastated, but the split was even harder on Beyonce given that her dad was still managing her career at the time. But it appeared that after everything with the tour happened, she had all the reason to ditch her father from her life and her team.
In August 2020, Tina spoke out about her divorce ordeal in an interview on the OWN virtual series Girlfriends Check-in, inviting that both Beyonce — and her younger daughter Solange Knowles — played a tremendous role in helping her get through the split.
“When I went through my divorce I was devastated after 33 years of marriage. Not because I wanted to stay in the marriage but just because I was like ‘oh my God I failed at this and I am 59-years-old,” she said.
“They [Beyoncé and Solange] came over and looked at old movies with me, we ate ice cream all night. They let me feel sorry for myself for a short period of time and then they were like momma ‘you’re a bad girl!’”
Though Beyonce doesn’t see her dad as much as she used to — and rightfully so — she had her father show up to her Houston show when the Formation World Tour made its stop in Texas in May 2016.
The pair were all smiled as they posed for a photo backstage, which appeared to have been taken by Tina, who published the snap on her Instagram with the caption, “Houston Concert proud dad.”
Despite apparent (yet still alleged) financial problems while under the management of Mathew, Beyonce was quick to act by hiring a new team with Live Nation, who have helped the mother of three amass a fortune valued at $355 million.
Beyonce remains one of the best-selling R&B singers of all time with current endorsement deals including Adidas and a $60 million deal with Netflix which she inked back in 2019.
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