Fans gathered in anticipation for a spectacular performance. Glittering lights, iconic choreography, and Beyoncé’s powerhouse vocals are usually enough to ignite any stadium. But this time, something felt off and it wasn’t just the setlist.
As Beyoncé dazzled the crowd during her Cowboy Carter tour stop in Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, an unexpected moment unfolded that left fans buzzing for all the wrong reasons.
The singer, dressed in a sequined white Western suit, had taken her place on a golden throne as part of a dramatic stage sequence. A robotic arm, designed to pour her a drink, was meant to add a futuristic flair. Instead, it became the center of an on-stage mishap.
The mechanical arm missed its mark by just inches, spilling the liquid directly onto the throne rather than into the star’s glass.
Beyoncé, visibly surprised, picked up the empty cup, glanced at the robot, and almost broke into a smile. She quickly regained composure and continued with the performance, flicking a remote control as if switching on a TV, in line with the show’s choreography.
Social media lit up with reactions. “Beyoncé wanted to laugh so bad… she looked up at the robot like it wasn’t a robot,” one user wrote. Another added, “She ready to fire the robot.” One fan chalked the mishap up to human error, claiming, “They didn’t put it directly on its mark kinda like when they didn’t mark where she had to stand to perform Cozy.”
While the robotic glitch grabbed headlines, it wasn’t the only thing raising eyebrows on tour.
Despite being one of the biggest names in music, Beyoncé is now facing what some fans are calling an unexpected slump.
The Cowboy Carter tour, launched in support of her experimental country-inspired album, is struggling to generate the same ticket demand as her previous Renaissance tour.
Some seats at her Los Angeles shows were reportedly sold for as low as $35 before fees. With dynamic pricing and seat resales inflating costs up to $300 for less favorable sections, many fans have hesitated to commit.
A source told DailyMail.com that ticket resellers are partially to blame for the empty seats. “Resellers scooped up huge quantities and are now stuck with overpriced listings,” the source said. “It’s made it harder for real fans to buy affordable tickets.”
Beyoncé’s management team, however, is said to be hopeful. “They’re expecting more of her fans to buy tickets today and in the coming days if resale gets cheaper,” the insider added. “Ticket prices could be slashed the evening of some dates to fill the seats if they are noticeably empty.”
Compounding the controversy, Beyoncé recently received a cease-and-desist letter for using imagery resembling the Las Vegas Sphere without permission. The clip, which went viral, showed her seemingly interacting with a CGI version of the iconic venue.
Even Beyoncé’s family appearances on stage have drawn scrutiny. Her daughter Blue Ivy’s performances have sparked debates online, with some critics pointing to “substandard dance moves” while others defend her involvement as a personal expression of the artist’s family pride.
Despite these hurdles, Beyoncé continues to break records. She now holds the distinction of performing more shows at SoFi Stadium than any other artist since its 2020 opening. The Cowboy Carter tour includes 32 stadium dates across just nine cities in the U.S., plus six shows in London and three near Paris.
Still, questions linger.
Has Beyoncé’s pivot into country and Americana resonated with her fanbase the way her previous albums did? And are fans ready to invest again so soon after 2022’s high-octane Renaissance tour?
The final act of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter run may yet tell a different story. But for now, as one fan quipped after the robotic mishap, “Even Queen Bey has her off nights — but at least she still looks flawless doing it.”
Feature Image Credit: (X)
