The buzz all Thursday at the DNC was that Beyoncé, Taylor Swift or a similarly big act was set to appear. Here’s how the rumor spread.
CHICAGO — The buzz of the DNC all day Thursday was that Beyoncé or Taylor Swift — or maybe both — would give a surprise performance to close out the star-studded convention.
But — to the disappointment of many Chicagoans — it didn’t happen.
Rumors swirled across the internet all day, some thought the convention DJ was teasing by playing “Shake It Off” and “Texas Hold ‘Em” to hype up the crowd and there were apparently false Beyoncé sightings. Then The Hollywood Reporter threw cold water on the Beyoncé rumor about 9 p.m., reporting the superstar never was scheduled to attend or perform at the convention. The Sun-Times also confirmed the news, citing Beyoncé’s publicist on Instagram.
Instead, a packed DNC crowd got Leon Panetta, a former U.S. secretary of defense, director of the CIA, White House chief of staff and congressman, as well as all of the other regularly scheduled speakers. Singer Pink also performed her 2017 song “What About Us” with her daughter, Willow.
SURPRISE!!!!!!!! IT WAS BALLOONS!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/jzTps4k0Wf
— Dave Jorgenson (not JD Vance) (@davejorgenson) August 23, 2024
Fans at a Soldier Field watch party were let down.
When Leon Panetta took the stage, one fan said, “Why? On Night Four? Isn’t he more of a Night One?”
Another fan said, “All we’re gonna get is a Beyoncé song?”
Imagine showing up for a Beyoncé concert and seeing Leon Panetta
— Phil’s Wins 🥥🌴 (@philipjonathn) August 23, 2024
Campaign strategist Joshua Rush joked that all the hype for a surprise guest could’ve been a ploy to get passive voters to watch the DNC.
Good Evening, “DNC surprise Beyoncé” was a 7 hour sociological study conducted by the Democratic Party. We are now complete with our study. Thank you for your attention.
— Joshua Rush (@JoshuaRush) August 23, 2024
If it was, it’s not entirely our fault we fell for it. Beyoncé’s 2016 song “Freedom” is Vice President Kamala Harris’ official campaign song and has routinely been played at Harris campaign events. When Harris took the stage to formally accept the Democratic party’s nomination for president, “Freedom” was blasting through the United Center.
And news sources were sharing the rumor, too.
Former Obama administration official Brandon Friedman broke down the spread of the rumor, tracing its origins to a few paid blue-check accounts on X who hinted at a “big surprise” and “special guest” at the DNC to their hundreds of thousands of followers. The first said the surprise would be bigger than Oprah the night before.
In case anyone still cares, here's a short thread on how an online rumor takes off:
Amid rumors that Taylor Swift or Beyonce would perform at the DNC, this blue check account with 600,000 followers tweeted at 12:28 PM CT that a "big surprise" was on the way. The tweet took off. pic.twitter.com/xvG7z3fh4z
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) August 23, 2024
Hours later, Emmy Ruiz, White House political director, tweeted a bee, which fans took as confirmation Beyoncé would appear. She later said her child had accidentally tweeted the bee.
The rumor kept spreading up the chain until TMZ reported Beyonce would appear, and the Wall Street Journal and others shared their confirmation. TMZ later recanted.
To quote the great Beyonce: We gotta lay our cards down, down, down … we got this one wrong.
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 23, 2024
Other fans across social media reacted:
to whoever started the Beyoncé as dnc special guest rumour pic.twitter.com/y59dLZziZZ
— T (@teewatterss) August 23, 2024
kamala after tricking yall to watch the dnc for a beyoncé performance pic.twitter.com/O16SKqliAH
— shayla (@bornysterday) August 23, 2024
the dnc’s social media manger watching the taylor swift/beyoncé surprise appearance speculation tweets pour in while lin-manuel miranda warms up
pic.twitter.com/CUo3l49LGk— one dozen rats at a keyboard (@PanasonicDX4500) August 22, 2024
“Beyoncé will perform at the DNC tonight”
Beyoncé tonight: pic.twitter.com/guumrBwTd3
— 𐚁 onii 𐚁 (@__Onixivy_) August 22, 2024
Beyonce confirming this hours into the dnc gags me. she knew what she was doing, making sure you american fans pay attention to the election
well done 🐝 https://t.co/zole4M4BJ3
— 𝙲é𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚑 (@dioniclamb) August 23, 2024
