Beyonce brought her Cowboy Carter schtick to NRG Stadium in Houston, her hometown doncha know, for the halftime show at the Ravens versus the Texans game on Christmas Day. The show, mercifully, had nothing to do with Christmas. It was a mercy because can you imagine the epic goat rodeo that would have been? Oy! Mrs. Carter, she is Jay-Z’s wife, ended her spectacle with a finger gun and a banner that said “Bang”. This is in direct contravention of the NFL’s rules. Not that Queen Bey gives a fat rat’s backside about anyone else’s rules or sensitivities.

In case you were unaware, as I was until today, The finger gun gesture is banned by the NFL. Players who make this gesture receive an automatic 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct135. The NFL prohibits gestures that allude to violence or mimic firing a gun. Or, mimicking shooting a bow and arrow as Travis Kelce did. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his lackies believe that this will help eliminate gun violence in the league and with its fans. Dumb, but that’s why Goodell makes the big bucks ($60 million plus per annum).

Beyonce put on a spectacle of a halftime event. A cast of thousands all built around her Cowboy Carter album:

The joy of creating music is that there are no rules. The more I see the world evolving the more I felt a deeper connection to purity. With artificial intelligence and digital filters and programming, I wanted to go back to real instruments, and I used very old ones. I didn’t want some layers of instruments like strings, especially guitars, and organs perfectly in tune. I kept some songs raw and leaned into folk. All the sounds were so organic and human, everyday things like the wind, snaps and even the sound of birds and chickens, the sounds of nature.

— Beyoncé on Cowboy Carter

Color me skeptical on that. Just so you can see that this really was a shallow, Liberal Goat Rodeo, here it is:

Ignore the warning and click on the watch on YouTube button. I am not a Beyonce Fan. There were parts of the spectacle that were awesome. I really loved HBCU Texas Southern University’s Ocean of Soul Band, Motions of Soul Dance team and famous Drum Majors. They did not need Cowboy Carter. They would have been fine on their own like halftime used to be. See:

The Texas Southern “Ocean of Soul” marching band was alongside Beyoncé while she performed tonight! pic.twitter.com/wLWRTmwfRx

— Beyoncé Press. (@beyoncepress) December 26, 2024

By the way, the only reason to carry Beyonce around the field feet first was so that you could see the red soles on her Christian Louboutin shoes. Please don’t waste your money. The red wears off if you walk in the shoes.

The Motion of the Ocean dancers did not have their bottoms hanging out. Both Beyonce and Taylor Swift would do well to invest in pants. Just sayin’. Notice the dancers were all women of color with blonde hair. But that is not their everyday look. They are role-playing White Blondes just like Mrs. Carter:

Texas Southern’s Ocean of Soul featuring the “Motion of the Ocean” playing DJ Screw’s “June 27th” during their homecoming:

(h/t: NSBA) pic.twitter.com/CAvSpaAoaN

— Kalan Hooks (@KalanHookstv) October 5, 2024

Let us not ever speak of “Cultural Appropriation” again, kay?

Finally, about the finger gun? Mrs. Carter’s husband’s friend P. Diddy is currently being held on charges regarding underage sex and trafficking. Jay-Z himself has had alleged accusations, allegedly. Maybe Beyonce was sending a message? Maybe she was declaring her independence?

Beyoncé performs tonight half naked in a stadium that is freezing! During her concert she released a banner with the word ‘BANG’ referring to her being a country artist now or sending a shout out to Diddy! pic.twitter.com/P04nFq1vUG

— B. Wilkins lll (@ScummyMummy511) December 26, 2024

Flipping her hair and lip-syncing, while flouting NFL rules. It was a spectacle. I have seen better shows in Pigeon Forge.

Featured Image: Pete Sekesan/Wikimedia Commons.org/cropped/Creative Commons 2.0