Beyoncé has come up with a way of avoiding the “unflattering photos” fiasco that followed February’s Super Bowl show: Just ban professional photographers.
The singer suffered a PR backlash a couple of months ago when her publicist attempted to have some rough photos of the star erased from the Internet .
Unfortunately, the Internet isn’t very good at following instructions, especially when said requests are designed to massage a celebrity’s ego. So, instead of being obediently deleted, the unflattering pictures of Beyoncé were suddenly everywhere , with the inevitable memes not far behind.
If the Super Bowl wasn’t Beyoncé’s chance to set the rules, her new “Mrs. Carter Show” world tour (which started last week ) most certainly is.
Rather than endure imperfect photos of their star, the singer’s management company has released just two images of the 31-year-old ahead of the tour. I don’t need to tell you Beyoncé looks fab in both, right?
Furthermore, in a bid to control information that would make Kim Jong-il blush, Beyoncé has reportedly banned all professional photographers from her shows. The goal, one assumes, is to further eliminate any chance of an unflattering photo being released and reminding the world Beyoncé is also human. I know, the horror.
This hasn’t worked perfectly. Because no professional shots of Beyoncé’s new show are available, news outlets (in their desperate bid to have exclusive pictures) are using shots taken from the front row of the audience.
Incredibly, photos taken from a giddy fourteen-year-old’s iPhone in neon-lit semi-darkness aren’t so flattering either. The first lady of pop can’t seem to win either way.
Anyway, let’s enjoy this again. For old time’s sake.