Why Beyoncé Really Fired Her Own Dad As Her Manager
To her millions of fans, Beyoncé's the consummate entertainer, equipped with angelic vocals, smooth dancing, and an incomparable stage presence. And while it's clear that Beyoncé's natural talent and work ethic helped propel her toward stardom, you can't laud her journey without mentioning her father, Mathew Knowles. While Beyoncé operates under different management today, Knowles managed much of her early career — including her pre-Destiny's Child days when her group was called Girl's Tyme (via Britannica). Prior to devoting himself to his daughter's career, Knowles enjoyed a successful career in medical sales, per The Fader. However, once things started to take off, he quit to manage Beyoncé and her group mates full time.
Knowles remained Beyoncé's manager through various Destiny's Child roster changes — even after former Destiny's Child members LaToya Luckett and LeTavia Roberson sued him in 2000, per MTV — as well as the first eight years of her solo career. According to The Guardian, Beyoncé and Knowles ended their manager-client relationship in 2011. "Business is business and family is family," shared Knowles. "It should come as no surprise that at 29 years old, almost 30, she wants to have more control of her business." Meanwhile, Beyoncé also announced the split, speaking highly of her father in a statement. At the time, the father-daughter duo made sure to keep everything above the fray. However it has since been reported that Knowles' firing was spurred by a much darker reason.
Mathew Knowles allegedly stole from Beyoncé
According to court documents posted by TMZ, Beyoncé fired Mathew Knowles for allegedly stealing money from her tour budget. But there's a twist. These court documents were filed by Knowles in 2011, as part of a lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment — the company heading Beyoncé's tour that year. According to Knowles, a Live Nation employee had informed Beyoncé that Knowles "had stolen money from Beyoncé on her most recent tour or otherwise taken funds that [he] was not entitled to."
While Knowles maintained his innocence, he claimed that an internal audit falsely proved he'd misappropriated tour funds, thus leading to his axing. He also petitioned to be allowed to interview the company's employees to gauge who'd launched the claims against him. Additionally, per the Los Angeles Times, Knowles also inquired to find out why Live Nation had paid Beyoncé $4 million after his firing, implying that the company purposefully had him ousted so it could align themselves closer with his famous daughter.
To this day, Beyoncé has never publicly confirmed or denied either side of the allegations.
Are Beyoncé and Mathew Knowles close today?
Given Beyoncé's penchant for privacy, the details of her professional fallout with her father will probably never come to light. With that said, potentially sour business dealings can't erase their familial bond. Unfortunately, business hasn't been the father and daughter's only possible point of contention over the years. Beyoncé's parents' divorce was finalized around the time she and Mathew Knowles parted ways professionally. Beyoncé's mom, Tina Knowles-Lawson — who has since remarried — originally filed to dissolve their marriage two years earlier, in 2009, per TMZ, which was supposedly influenced by Knowles' extramarital relationship with Alexsandra Wright, which produced a child, per TMZ. Four months after the birth of Knowles and Wright's baby, Knowles had a second child.
Despite the perfect recipe for familial estrangement, Beyoncé has maintained a relationship with her father. In 2016, she even honored him in her 2016 hit, "Daddy Lessons," where she proudly sang about all of the strength he had instilled in her (via Genius). However, as Bustle broke down, the song's final verse, where Beyoncé sang about a father warning his daughter about "when men like me come around," could be referencing Mathew's infidelity. In any case, Beyoncé featured her father in the visuals for the song's accompanying album, "Lemonade," which likely means he's okay with the song — and the theories that come with it.