DNC Showrunners Just Broke Their Silence on That Viral Beyoncé Rumor. Here's What Really Happened

Veteran live television producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss have learned a thing or two about building on-screen suspense over the years. But as the showrunners of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, they hardly had to try.

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter published on Monday, Aug. 26, the DNC showrunners finally revealed how they were feeling on the last night of the convention, as the world convinced itself in a matter of hours that Beyoncé was about to appear as a surprise guest. According to the duo, Queen Bey was never part of the plan.

"We never put out anything about Beyonce. We denied it every time the media asked us — even though, by the way, people on my staff didn’t believe me," Kirshner told the outlet.

He added: "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 [Kamala Harris]. Why would we overshadow that?"

Weiss said he was also bombarded with questions as anonymous social media posts went viral on Thursday, Aug. 22, teasing a huge surprise guest. Before long, TMZ had reported that Beyoncé was the surprise. (TMZ later apologized for being wrong.)

"This is the internet taking on a life of its own and people taking something as fact — literally to the point that people in my booth are saying, 'Is she coming? You can tell me.' And I would say, 'I have no knowledge she’s coming.' And they would say, 'No knowledge? So there’s something to know!' " Weiss recalled.

"It was pretty crazy," he added. "But she wasn’t coming."

As the final evening of the DNC neared its headline moment — Harris' acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination — viewers continued posting theories about the "surprise guest," and whether they would be the one to introduce Harris.

Technically Beyoncé did introduce the vice president, just not in the way people anticipated. As Harris walked out on stage to deliver the biggest speech of her career, her 2024 campaign anthem, "Freedom" by Beyonce, blared through Chicago's United Center.

Beyoncé’s representative Yvette Noel-Schure ultimately confirmed to CNN in a statement that the superstar "was never scheduled to be in Chicago" herself, even though her music played an important role in energizing the crowd.

"We’re smart enough to know that what we’re there to do is get the message out about the Democratic side," Kirshner told The Hollywood Reporter of his vision for the convention. "The celebrities help us do that for sure, but we have to keep the ultimate goal in mind."

Even if Kirshner and Weiss weren't responsible for planting the rumor, they certainly benefited from it: More Americans were tuned in for Harris' acceptance speech than Donald Trump's convention speech in July.