Mathew Knowles is sharing his reaction to the news his daughter Beyoncé was snubbed by the CMAs, and he’s not surprised.
On Monday (September 9), the CMA Awards announced the nominations for the 2024 ceremony. Beyoncé failed to receive a single nomination despite having one of the biggest country music hits this year with “Texas Hold ‘Em.” She also dropped Cowboy Carter, one of the biggest albums of the genre in 2024.
Knowles told TMZ that the CMA Awards voters are “showing it still comes down to white and Black.” He believes the snub is rooted in the controversy resulting from Beyoncé’s performance with The Chicks at the 2016 award show.
“There’s more white people in America and unfortunately they don’t vote based on ability and achievements,” Knowles added. “It’s still sometimes a white and Black thing.”
Knowles didn’t go so far as calling voters racists but said the snub “speaks for itself.” He added, “In America, there’s no accountability for people not being accepting of other cultures.”
Beyoncé Reveals 2016 CMA Awards Controversy Inspired “Cowboy Carter”
Beyoncé faced intense backlash following her 2016 CMA Awards appearance, and it would serve as the inspiration for Cowboy Carter.
“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,” Beyonce said while announcing the album in March. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.”
While the CMA Awards failed to recognize Beyoncé, Morgan Wallen, who faced backlash for using the n-word in 2021, leads the nominations with seven. Post Malone is not too far behind with four nominations.
Earlier this year Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, defended her daughter from critics who refused to accept her music as country.
“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.”