Tina Knowles is finally addressing that hilarious, viral “grandmama” moment she had with her youngest granddaughter Rumi onstage during a recent “Cowboy Carter” tour stop. And trust us when we say, her response is hella real!
As we previously reported, the moment in question took place during night two of Bey’s performance in Los Angeles. Pausing from singing the song “Protector,” Bey took the time to congratulate Knowles on the success of her new New York Times bestseller, “Matriarch: A Memoir,” and brought her out on stage alongside Rumi and her big sis Blue Ivy.
While the moment was a beautiful sight to see, things went slightly off-script when Mama Tina tried to get Rumi to control her excitement. As the child jumped, waved and smiled at the crowd, Knowles shot her a quick glare and tried to pull at her to get her to relax.
As a result, footage of that moment quickly went viral with some people labeling it as a classic Black grandma move while others were a bit annoyed at how the elder matriarch handled the situation.
Now, in a new interview with Gayle King, Knowles addressed the moment during one her last stops of her “Matriarch” book tour, explaining that it wasn’t as serious as fans were thinking.
“It was real. It’s real life, you know. Grandmas don’t play,” she explained with a laugh.
She later added:
“People have written all kinds of narratives about it. It really wasn’t that. It was just that she was reaching for the mic because she wanted to say something, and I realized that, and she was pulling, and I was like, ‘Oh God, that’s all that needs to happen, is the mic hits her in the face.”
Thankfully, Rumi avoided a potential mishap with the mic but we have no doubt her excitement will still be a trending topic as Bey’s tour continues!