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Brazil’s justice minister had to clarify he’s not investigating Beyoncé for the riots

Updated Jan 13, 2023, 2:58pm EST
South America
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The News

Brazil’s justice minister was forced to jokingly clarify Friday that he doesn’t plan on investigating “Beyoncé’s participation in anti-democratic acts,” after a clip of him saying what sounded like the international superstar’s name while discussing the Jan. 8 Brasilia riots went viral.

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Know More

In remarks that were televised on CNN Brasil, Minister Flávio Dino mentioned whether or not there were political reasons to investigate “A, B, or C.”

But in Portuguese, it sounded like he said “Beyoncé” — who, by the way, is very popular in Brazil. The clip quickly went viral in Brazil.

“I would like to clarify that there is not, nor will there be, any investigation into Beyoncé’s participation in anti-democratic acts,” he tweeted Friday.

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Step Back

Brazil’s justice department, is, however, investigating political and business leaders who may have supported and funded the Jan. 8 rioters, The New York Times reported. Those rioters believed the election was stolen from former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Over 1,000 people — none of whom were Beyoncé Knowles-Carter — were detained after Brazil’s federal buildings were invaded and ransacked, officials said.

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The View From The Beyhive

As the clip went viral, some Beyoncé fans in Brazil still called for an investigation — into why she hasn’t released music videos for her acclaimed 2022 album Renaissance, nearly six months after its release.

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“flavio dino will get the renaissance visuals himself,” one fan wrote.

“Finally,” journalist Arthur Anthunes wrote, “we’ll know what happened to the ‘RENAISSANCE’ visuals.”

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