Mathew Knowles Calls Beyoncé’s CMA Awards Snub a 'White and Black' Issue
Knowles claims his daughter's performance at the 2016 show had something to do with the snub.
Mathew Knowles thinks Beyoncé being snubbed at the Country Music Association Awards (CMA) has something to do with race.
On Monday, the CMA Awards announced the nominations for this year's ceremony, and Bey was nowhere to be found even though she released some of the biggest country hits and albums of the year in "Texas Hold 'Em" and Cowboy Carter, respectively. Knowles spoke with TMZ following the nominations and claimed his daughter's history with the awards show played a factor, as did her being a black woman.
According to Knowles, Beyoncé's performance at the 2016 show alongside the Dixie Chicks was a mess, and the committee never apologized to her. Knowles told TMZ the snub is "showing it still comes down to white and black."
Knowles clarified he wasn't calling the CMA voters racist but claimed Beyoncé's snub "speaks for itself" and that "in America, there's no accountability for people not being accepting of other cultures." Regarding his daughter, the committee has taken a negative stance against her, and it doesn't come as a surprise given the state of American culture.
While Beyoncé was snubbed, Shaboozey, featured on Cowboy Carter, is nominated for Best New Artist and Single of the Year with "A Bar Song." In her album announcement back in March, Beyoncé revealed the inspiration for Cowboy Carter came from that troubling 2016 CMA Awards show.
"It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn't," said Beyonce. "But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive."
Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles, also commented on her daughter not being accepted by the culture music community.
"We have always celebrated cowboy culture growing up in Texas. We also always understood that it was not just about it belonging to white culture only," she wrote. "In Texas there is a huge black cowboy culture. Why do you think that my kids have integrated it into their fashion and art since the beginning."
