The reports of Beyoncé or Taylor Swift at the DNC were greatly exaggerated
A rumor that Taylor Swift or Beyoncé might perform at the final night of the Democratic National Convention swept the Internet
Photo by: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Be careful about stirring up stan armies—it’s like kicking a beehive. Political commentary and fan behavior have become way too similar in recent years, but the two collided breathlessly over the final night of the Democratic National Convention as rumors began to circulate that there was a surprise special guest going to perform. Could it be Taylor Swift? Beyoncé? As it turns out, it was neither and nobody. So why was everyone frothing at the mouth?
It was pure rumor mongering that led us to this point: a blue check X/Twitter account called “Angry Staffer” wrote in a (since-deleted) post, “I’ve been sworn to secrecy, but you don’t want to miss the DNC tonight. If you thought the Oprah surprise was big, just wait.” That post quickly snowballed as speculation ramped up. Swift just finished her European Eras Tour and her endorsement has been pursued heavily by Democrats; this theory was bolstered by an alleged jet tracker showing her plane touching down in Chicago, as well as special bracelets given out on the convention floor that looked like ones from her concerts. Beyoncé, meanwhile, has already signaled strong support for Kamala Harris, who is using the singer’s track “Freedom” as a campaign song. This theory was bolstered by TMZ “exclusively” confirming that Beyoncé would indeed show up. TMZ, for all its faults, is generally accurate, so this seemed like a done deal.
Twenty minutes later, this other random blue check account with more than 100,000 followers described a “gap in tonight’s DNC schedule” for a “special guest.” It also got thousands of shares. pic.twitter.com/7TqLjGaWoZ
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) August 23, 2024
TMZ provided a single, 18-word sentence to acknowledge they reported fake news, then moved right along like it never happened. pic.twitter.com/M2GhCPQVGZ
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) August 23, 2024
Except then the night proceeded with no surprise. The performers scheduled to perform (The Chicks, P!nk) did perform; Kamala Harris made her speech. Beyoncé’s people denied that she was ever meant to make an appearance and TMZ issued a rare mea culpa. Stans everywhere walked away disappointed that their idol didn’t make an appearance. (Swifties, at least, are used to “clowning” about her next move.)
Twitter has always been a pretty niche community, and even more so in the Elon Musk “X” era. But it goes to show the power the platform still has that one post can set off a chain reaction that had even folks attending the convention talking. Major outlets like NPR, Axios, The Hill, The Washington Post, MSNBC, AP News, and more all lead with the debunked rumor in their coverage of the DNC; Jon Stewart opened with a joke about it in his recap (below). It also goes to show how deeply celebrity is intertwined with politics at the moment. There’s still months to go before this election season is over, so there’s plenty of time to get worked up about what pop stars are doing to protect democracy, or whatever.