With Beyonce’s new album out, everybody wants in on that sweet, sweet content — including Fox News, which has reverted to its faithful standby of criticizing a female performer for projecting sexiness (while ignoring the obvious and ongoing sexual misconduct of politicians the network cheerleads for on any other day). Usually, they pick on Cardi B, but since she’s been laying low finishing her own album, of course, the next big name Black star for them to go after is Beyonce — even if they probably pulled a muscle with the reach they had to make to get there.
This time, it’s Brian Kilmeade, host of Fox & Friends and his own self-titled show, who deemed Beyonce “more vile than ever” over some “X-rated lyrics” on the song “Heated.” First choosing to note that Beyonce is a mother, he says, “We haven’t seen her in a while, barely dressed, dancing around… and now she comes back, more vile than ever with X-rated lyrics.” He also snipes at Beyonce’s decision to remove the ableist term “spaz” from the lyrics of “Heated” (because what good is Fox News if they can’t double down on anti-Blackness and sexism with a little good, old-fashioned bullying?).
“What about the dimpled ass community?” he sneers. His guest, Fox contributor Raymond Arroyo, joined in, “Or what about those with stretch marks on their breasts? Why would you sing [those lyrics] as a renowned woman who young people look to? I don’t know.”
Kilmeade: She’s a parent. We haven’t t really seen her in a while barely dressed dancing around and now she comes back more vile than ever pic.twitter.com/zjnhKXiTKU
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 2, 2022
Of course, leaving aside the fact that nobody really says “X-rated” anymore, it’s pretty clear to anyone with two brain cells to rub together to make a synapse that Beyonce’s lyrics celebrate women’s bodies — including those that have changed due to pregnancy, with stretch marks and butt dimples being among the results of those changes. In a world that demeans and denigrates women for not presenting a (photoshopped) picture-perfect facade in public, Beyonce is singing to let the many, many people with those things that they are normal, beautiful, and loved — although, maybe that’s the problem the Fox hosts have in the first place.