Mathew Knowles asked Wendy Williams for a favour. The only reason she gave him a platform on her show to promote his book is because he granted her access to Destiny’s Child back when Wendy was struggling to land an interview. At the time, Mathew said, “Wendy, one day I’m going to ask you for a favour!” which settles the “why?” of Mathew Knowles’ appearance on The Wendy Williams Show.
Mathew volunteers this information that makes him look a bit desperate for press but that’s the Mathew Knowles we’ve come to expect – the guy volunteering information no one asked for. In this interview, Wendy outright asks him for a lot of information about Beyoncé and Solange, his grandchildren, Julez, Blue Ivy and the Holy Twins and his ex-wife, the Queen Mother Miss Tina. Of course, he happily obliges.
The piece of information Mathew shares that is getting picked up the most is his reaction to the infamous elevator incident of 2014. Mathew says that when he first saw the footage, he laughed.
“I laughed so hard because if you know Solange, that’s Solange. You just never know what you’re gonna get — a firecracker.”
He then relates the incident back to their childhoods when:
“Beyoncé would be in the corner, quiet, just kinda like ‘when y’all finish, let me know’…So I laughed.”
Sure, this could be a cute anecdote if A) the elevator video wasn’t outright shocking and involving an altercation between his child and his other child’s spouse so I think the first emotion as a parent should’ve been concern instead of laughter and B) this wasn’t the first time Mathew has talked about the elevator. He once called it a “Jedi mind trick” or an elaborate publicity stunt. Basically, Mathew likes to talk sh-t and he clearly has no real idea of what is going down in the lives of Beyoncé and Solange.
When it comes to Rogue Relatives, Mathew Knowles is the epitome. Of all the loose-lipped celeb kin, Mathew Knowles is Rogue One, if you will - Jedi mind tricks not included. He’s the first Rogue Relative I think of when family members of celebrities speak out of turn – especially since his family is the most guarded and the most specific with what we know and when we know it. But Mathew’s access to the family has been limited as of late. Since his divorce from Miss Tina, Mathew has been an outsider looking in on the family, and aside from that time he told the world about the birth of the Holy Twins before our Queen blessed us with their official announcement, I don’t think Mathew has the knowledge anymore to do any damage with his tendency to go rogue.
This interview makes that even more glaring. The biggest takeaway from his latest attempt to spill the tea about his famous family is this: Rogue One has lost his power. It’s almost sad. At multiple points in the conversation, Mathew admits to not talking to his daughters often and only seeing his grandchildren “four or five times.” He full on confesses that he could care less about the Holy Twins until they get to an age where they start speaking… but he’s still not close to Julez or Blue Ivy, who I’m convinced is an exceptional conversationalist. He also shows some vulnerability when he sheepishly apologizes for prematurely revealing the twins were born.
Mathew guesses right alongside Wendy about the details of the On The Run 2 tour and says he’s hoping for Destiny’s Child to go on tour again. So, he’s just a fan at this point. Maybe it’s my own daddy issues clouding my judgement but there were points in this interview where I almost felt bad for Mathew Knowles. I know, I know, he’s still a mess of a human but I have firsthand experience of what can happen to a parent after a divorce when the kids are old enough to choose sides. Beyoncé and Solange, understandably, have chosen Miss Tina. Mathew doesn’t get invited to Easter dinner or the family cookouts – not that he should – but he’s a 66-year-old man who has to use his daughters’ names to get press. That’s sad as f-ck. Whether Mathew realizes how sad that is may be up for debate.
I was just allowing myself to feel sorry for this man and then I found his response to the coverage of his interview with Wendy Williams.
As Solange would say, “dad was mad.” So, Mathew was supposed to be on The Wendy Williams Show to promote his book, Racism From the Eyes of a Child, but he spent the majority of his time talking about his estranged family and now he’s mad that outlets reported the exact words he said on a national talk show. Please. What was he expecting? This man used to manage the greatest girl group of all time. Where’d his savvy go? If he really only wanted his message to be about racism, then he shouldn’t have called up Wendy Williams to try to use his daughters’ names to sell books.
See below for the full interview.
