The King is coming to the Queen’s defense. Amidst a planned protest and criticism, T.I. is sharing his support for Beyoncé’s Super Bowl set.
During Sunday’s halftime show, Queen Bey performed her black power anthem “Formation,” which featured a Black Panther theme, with women dressed in black leather outfits and matching berets, while dancing in the shape of an X.
But the performance was met with criticism from some viewers, who saw it as an attack against law enforcement. An anonymous group announced plans for an “Anti-Beyoncé Protest Rally” in front of NFL headquarters in Manhattan. Meanwhile, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani called the apparent Black Panthers and Malcolm X homage “outrageous.”
But T.I. is not here for it. When asked about the backlash, the Hustle Gang chief was not afraid to speak his mind. “It’s an attack on cops that attack our people,” he told TMZ. “How they gon’ protest against our protest? I don’t think that Beyoncé was being malicious in any way in her demonstration, and I feel that anything that is done to demonstrate against a pure demonstration is gon’ lose in the end.”
He shot back at those who saw the performance as un-American. “Everything that we’re doing as far as the Black Lives Matter movement, it is to speak out and fight against unnecessary, unlawful death of our people, by people who are supposed to be put in a position of authority to protect and serve our people. So if you are against that, then to me, that is un-American.”
