Rumors of a “special guest” to close out the Democratic National Convention were so convincing that even some of the staff believed it.
DNC Executive Producer Ricky Kirshner and Director Glenn Weiss opened up to The Hollywood Reporter to discuss the convention when the topic drifted to the fake “surprise guest” that never appeared. The overwhelming majority of people believed Beyonce was going to perform, and then perhaps endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to bring the convention to a fairy tale ending.
Celebrity gossip outlet TMZ had even “confirmed” the appearance, though were forced to apologize when that turned out not to be the case.
“Speaking of surprises …” the interviewer said, setting up the awkward conversation.
“Oh no,” Kirshner chuckled.
“I mean, I gotta. Beyoncé. Was it ever going to happen Thursday night? What actually went down here?”
“We never put out anything about Beyoncé,” Kirshner explained. “We denied it every time the media asked us — even though, by the way, people on my staff didn’t believe me. I kept getting texts from news organizations saying, ‘When is Beyoncé coming out?’ But come on, we have the biggest star, the Democratic nominee for president. Why would we overshadow that?”
Weiss chimed in to blame the Internet for running with the rumor.
“This is the internet taking on a life of its own and people taking something as fact — literally to the point that people in my booth are saying, ‘Is she coming? You can tell me.’ And I would say, ‘I have no knowledge she’s coming.’ And they would say, ‘No knowledge? So there’s something to know!’ It was pretty crazy,” he recalled. “But she wasn’t coming. In the end, even TMZ [which first reported it] had to issue an apology.”
Other celebrities who did show up to perform at the DNC did so in a toned-down way, so as not to take away from the message the DNC was trying to convey and to not overshadow the political speakers which would effectively turn the event into a concert with interruptions.
“We’re smart enough to know that what we’re there to do is get the message out about the Democratic side. The celebrities help us do that for sure, but we have to keep the ultimate goal in mind. We had Pink [on Thursday]. She was amazing. But it was Pink with a beautiful song, not Pink flying in from the rafters. She was singing the right thing at the right time and it fit the moment beautifully,” Kirshner said.
‘Scammed again!’ ‘Surprise guest’ rumors prompt hilarious theories on X https://t.co/JB20hTk0x5
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) August 23, 2024
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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