Finally, I’m able to be myself, free from those characters, and in control of my image and perception. It’s truly me now. Everyone knows Beyoncé and her Beehive are not to be messed with. But apparently, Keri Hilson missed that memo. After she released a diss track aimed at Beyoncé, her career took a nosedive. She went from being a top artist to barely getting any radio play, and her album sales were abysmal. It got so bad that she quit music and disappeared from the scene. Now she’s back, revealing how Beyoncé allegedly used her power and influence to sabotage her career.
“I had to do a few more things, but I knew I had to slow down. I started contemplating leaving my career altogether. I just knew I needed time to get back to myself.”
It all started when a leaked remix of Keri’s hit “Turning Me On” began to blow up online. The song caught everyone’s attention because it had several lines that seemed to throw major shade at Beyoncé. The lyrics went, “Your vision cloudy if you think you the best; you can dance, she can sing, but you need to move it to the left. She needs to go have some babies; she needs to sit down. She fake; them other chicks ain’t even worth me talking about.” This was a clear diss at Beyoncé, especially with the reference to her song “Irreplaceable” in the line “move it to the left.” But Beyoncé wasn’t the only one in the crosshairs; Keri also took a shot at Ciara, singing, “Go ahead and tell these folks how long I spend writing your songs. I’ve been putting you on, just check the credits,” basically revealing that she’d been ghostwriting a lot of Ciara’s songs.
But when the Beehive started flooding her social media and dragging her, she quickly backtracked and denied that the song was a jab at either Beyoncé or Ciara. She even called in during one of Ciara’s radio interviews to clear things up. “I want to tell Ciara it’s not about you. People are reading way too much into it and making it what they want it to be. It wasn’t taking shots at anyone,” she said.
Ciara responded, “Cool. I guess everyone is here to listen to what Keri said, and I believe her. From my end, it’s always been nothing but love for you. I was very happy to see you succeed.”
Keri replied, “I know you’re sincere. I feel the same way when I say I’m proud of you. I’ve always meant that, and I always will. I’ve watched you from the beginning. I’m not jealous of anyone’s career. We’re all in this together. Keisha’s on my album. I’ve worked with Ciara many times. I’m a fan of Beyoncé’s
People were clearly not happy about it because the lyrics were pretty direct, with references to Beyoncé’s own songs and boasting about writing Ciara’s hit. It was obvious the song was a diss. Things got even worse when Keri refused to hold a magazine with Beyoncé and Jay-Z on the cover for a Juicy Magazine photoshoot. In a video that surfaced online, she was asked to pose with the magazine, but she made a weird face and asked, “Who is that?” before rudely handing it back and saying, “What about the magazine? Okay, I’ll just shout out Juicy Mag.” That was the last straw for the Beyhive, who came after her with everything they had. The situation escalated so much that Keri had to go on Twitter to beg them to stop bullying her. In a series of tweets, she wrote, “It’s too much. Please, is everything I tweet gonna be intentionally misinterpreted as a statement about someone, drama I know nothing about?” She continued, “You have no idea what your hateful words can do to someone’s spirit. Years of verbal abuse from strangers all day long. Enough is enough.” She ended by saying, “I’m here for my fans. I’m stronger than you imagined, but waking up and going to bed to your ugliness, it’s just too much, kids. I get it, okay? You can stop now.”
Oh, but the Beehive wasn’t about to let up. When Keri tweeted, “As far as my mistakes, God has dealt with them,” someone responded, “Checks Billboard charts. He has indeed.” Another user added, “But God hasn’t erased you from life yet, so God hasn’t dealt with you.” I can’t even imagine how exhausting it must have been for Keri to wake up to such cruel comments every day.
Things got even worse when Keri seemingly went into hiding, not releasing any new music for seven years. Her radio play dwindled, and her album sales tanked. In an emotional interview with psychic medium Reginald Lewis, Keri opened up about her hiatus, admitting she hit rock bottom multiple times and struggled to hold back tears. “It is kind of a comeback. Yeah, it is good as a comeback because I hit rock bottom a few times. You had to. You had to.”
Another thing: I’m now getting back to walking in my purpose. This is where things get tricky. Some people say it’s not Beyoncé’s fault that Keri got depressed and left music, while others believe it is. They argue that Beyoncé knew what was happening and chose to stay silent because she didn’t care about the harm it caused Keri. Yes, Keri shaded Beyoncé, but she acknowledged it and apologized. Many people think Beyoncé could have asked her fans to let it go and stop the hate because it was clearly hurting Keri’s mental health and career.
Recently, a man who claims to be Beyoncé’s former bodyguard went on TikTok and made some startling allegations about the Carters. He claimed their marriage is just a business arrangement and even accused Beyoncé of using drugs. In one of his rants, he specifically mentioned how Beyoncé and Jay-Z supposedly sabotaged Keri Hilson’s career. He said, “Beyoncé and Jay-Z will do anything to destroy anyone who speaks out against them. I understand the threats, but you have to remember one thing: I know your deepest secrets. I know so much about you and what you’ve done. I know how you got where you are, Beyoncé, and how you guys ended Keri Hilson’s career because she said something about you. That’s how ruthless you are, stepping on anyone to stay on top.”
Things got even messier when Keri revealed in an interview with Out Loud that she was pressured by big industry executives to release a diss track aimed at Beyoncé. She made it clear that she had no issues with Beyoncé and was pushed into doing it. “No one could ever compare to Beyoncé. Let’s just say, the person we’re talking about, no one could compare. No one will for a very, very long time. And that was never my intention. However, it was framed that way. It was absolutely framed that way. Those weren’t my lyrics; I didn’t write them.”
“So, you had to face the consequences?”
“It wasn’t my doing,” she admitted, clearly frightened about revealing who had pressured her to release the song. “I kept asking myself, should I tell the truth? Should I expose them? I was so young and new in my career. This was my first album, and I was so excited. It shattered my dream. But I learned. You live and you learn.”
A year after this interview, Keri shared another shocking revelation, hinting at making peace with Beyoncé. According to Keri, Beyoncé reached out, and they had a heartfelt conversation about what had happened. She described it as a healing moment for both. “She introduced herself graciously. I really appreciated it. I felt she understood what had happened, and there was a bit of healing in that moment when we met. I see her as an intuitive soul, just like me.”
Keri also mentioned her openness to working with Beyoncé. “It would probably be a very fun experience if she were open to it. I feel like she understood what it was all about. She’s amazing. I’ve always felt that way. That’s the truth, but no one will believe that now.”
I hate to be the one to spoil the fun, but the chances of that collaboration happening are very slim. Yes, Beyoncé reached out to her, and they talked through their issues, but that doesn’t change the damage that’s already been done. Even if Keri decides to make a comeback, it’s been so long that it would honestly be a miracle if people actually paid attention to her. Keri deserves much better than this, and as usual, people had a lot to say about it. One user commented, “Anyone who is competition for the Carters is deemed a threat and gets dealt with. Keri’s lucky she’s still alive. I’ve always loved her. She’s gorgeous and equally talented, so I guess they recognized that early and had to do something about her. Keep it pushing, Keri.”
So, what are your thoughts on all this? Do you think Beyoncé played a major role in sabotaging Keri’s career? Let me know in the comments below.