The internet loves a conspiracy theory — especially when it comes to an unannounced celebrity guest.
Over the past few years, social media has frequently lit up with rumors of big stars making surprise appearances at major events. Take the 2023 Grammy Awards, for example, where host Trevor Noah teased two unannounced performances at the awards show — neither of which ever happened.
The internet started speculating wildly about who would be taking the stage, and things quickly got out of hand. When no one showed up, clown emojis were posted in droves on X.
No one seems to have learned their lesson, because this keeps happening. The 2024 Democratic National Convention proved once again that the internet can take things to a new level, especially when the possibility of a surprise celebrity guest is involved.
Keep scrolling to see how Us Explains this phenomenon:
The Key Players
In the case of the DNC, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift were the key players — and they usually are. Every time there’s a whisper of a major guest somewhere, their names are immediately thrown into the ring, as they’re two of the most famous people in the world and only sporadically perform at awards shows. Adding to the speculation: Beyoncé’s 2016 anthem “Freedom” has already featured in campaign ads for Kamala Harris’ presidential run while Swift hasn’t yet endorsed a 2024 candidate.
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X isn’t a person, but the social media platform has a second-tier involvement in this phenomenon, as does Instagram gossip account Deux Moi.
Noah’s Grammys hosting gig was one of the first false celebrity guest incidents.
“One of your favorite performers is a woman, and that woman is going to be performing at the Grammys,” he said during an interview ahead of the February 2023 show. “Then one of your other favorite performers is a man, and that man is going to be performing at the Grammys, and you’re going, ‘Oh, but that could be anyone.’ But you know, it’s not anyone though because you’ve been listening to their album the whole year and it’s been huge.”
When it came time for the actual ceremony, the Grammys went over their allotted air time, and there was no special guest in sight — despite rampant rumors that it was going to be Beyoncé or Swift.
Flash-forward to Coachella 2024, when the internet (and Us Weekly) was prepped and ready for a surprise headlining performance. Once again, people thought it would be Beyoncé or Swift, but both April weekends went by without any unannounced sets.
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Most recently, music fans and political wonks united in anticipation of the final night of the 2024 DNC after rumors spread that an unannounced guest would introduce Vice President Harris. When social media posts about a blank space in the schedule went viral, the internet thought Beyoncé or Swift (or possibly Mitt Romney or former President George W. Bush) would be stepping out and stepping up. It was a major flop with no A-list lady (or major politician) in sight.
Why It’s a Big Deal
Obviously, it’s not the end of the world that these events are simply going on as planned, but it’s wild that this keeps happening. When a U.S. senator has to deny that he’s a surprise guest at a political convention — and then says he thinks Beyoncé or Swift will be coming instead — then you’ve got a problem.
One issue here is the way X, formerly Twitter, now works. It’s much easier for unsourced, unverified reports to go viral now that the platform defaults to the “for you” feed. It also doesn’t help that “verified” accounts are for the most part not verified like they used to be, meaning that a blue check doesn’t always mean the person tweeting about “confirmed” information is who they say they are.
In the case of the DNC, this meant that a couple of tweets with scant details quickly blew up. By the time a drum corps inside the United Center started playing Beyoncé songs, the entire nation was convinced that Queen B was on her way. It wasn’t until Bey’s publicist issued a denial — and shared a photo from home — that fans finally stood down.
When it comes to the reaction from the public, it’s always the same — and it always involves a clown emoji. After no surprise pop star appeared at the DNC (Pink and The Chicks were previously announced), internet sleuths immediately started speculating about how this debacle happened. Did someone from the Democratic Party leak the info to get people to tune in, or was it a GOP member trying to stoke disappointment? Or was it just a simple case of a rumor that got out of hand?
We may never know, but the jokes are still coming. “They’re saying Beyoncé might come to the Lunch and Learn seminar at work today,” one X user joked after the DNC’s conclusion.
Days after the convention wrapped, DNC producers confirmed that Beyoncé was never supposed to appear at all — although actual DNC employees still thought it might happen. “We never put out anything about Beyoncé. We denied it every time the media asked us — even though, by the way, people on my staff didn’t believe me,” Ricky Kirshner told The Hollywood Reporter. “I kept getting texts from news organizations saying, ‘When is Beyoncé coming out?’ But come on, we have the biggest star, the Democratic nominee for president. Why would we overshadow that?”
