Keyshia Cole Claims Beyoncé Ended Her Career for Entertainment

Does Beyoncé’s Influence Come with Consequences? The Stories of Keyshia Cole and Keri Hilson

Beyoncé’s name is back in the headlines, but not for her music or performances this time. Instead, it’s another round of speculation about whether her influence has derailed the careers of certain artists. This time, we’re looking at Keyshia Cole and Keri Hilson—two names that were once at the top of the charts but later seemed to disappear.

Keyshia Cole’s Critique of Beyoncé

Back in 2013, Beyoncé dropped Bow Down, a song with a bold and unapologetic tone. It didn’t sit right with everyone—Keyshia Cole, for one, had something to say. She took to Twitter to criticize the song, calling it hypocritical given Beyoncé’s history of promoting women’s empowerment.

“First, it was all, ‘Let’s have camaraderie as women,’ and then this? SMH,” Keyshia tweeted. She later added, “Can’t stand when people act self-righteous when it’s convenient.”

Keyshia insists her critique wasn’t personal. “I wasn’t hating on Beyoncé,” she said in an interview. “I’ve seen her a few times, and she’s always been sweet to me. That song just wasn’t her thing. But I don’t know…”

Still, the fallout was immediate. Fans came for her online, and even industry figures like The-Dream publicly distanced themselves. “I’m going to stand by my people,” The-Dream said, referring to Beyoncé.

Keyshia brushed off the drama, tweeting: “Dream not wanting to work with me is fine. I’m on my sixth album. God bless.”

But rumors persisted that her career had been negatively impacted, with many speculating Beyoncé’s influence played a part.

Keri Hilson’s Controversial Lyrics

Keyshia’s story has some eerie parallels with Keri Hilson’s. In the late 2000s, Keri was delivering hit after hit. Then came a leaked remix of her song Turning Me On, and everything changed.

The remix contained lines that many believed were directed at Beyoncé:
“She can dance, she can sing, but need to move it to the left. She need to go have some babies, she need to sit down. She fake.”

Though Keri later claimed the lyrics weren’t her idea, the backlash was swift and relentless. Fans accused her of disrespecting Beyoncé, and her career stalled. For years, Keri remained tight-lipped about what happened but eventually opened up, saying:
“It wasn’t my lyrics. It wasn’t my doing. But I had to pay the penalty. It soiled my whole experience early in my career.”

The Destiny’s Child Feud

Keyshia also found herself in hot water with Beyoncé’s former bandmate, Michelle Williams. After Destiny’s Child reunited at the 2013 Super Bowl halftime show, Keyshia tweeted:
“F* that ish up, then Beyoncé bad b** central. Then Michelle sung and woke my behind up from my daze. She always messing the groove up.”

Michelle, however, took the high road, tweeting:
“Had a great time with my sisters tonight. Love you all. God bless!”

Kelly Rowland chimed in during an interview, saying:
“You don’t have to respond to that kind of talk. Silence is the best power. We’re too grown for that.”

Is Crossing Beyoncé Career Suicide?

It’s hard to ignore the pattern. Whether it’s Keyshia, Keri, or others, those who speak out against Beyoncé often face backlash—not just from fans but seemingly from the industry itself. Some argue it’s a testament to Beyoncé’s influence and loyalty from her peers. Others wonder if it’s just bad luck.

One thing is for sure: Beyoncé remains untouchable at the top, and those who challenge her often seem to pay the price.
Keri didn’t name Beyoncé outright, but it was clear she was throwing shade, and that led to her facing a storm of online hate. By 2013, she had had enough.

She tweeted: “You have no idea what your hateful words could do to someone’s spirit. Years of verbal abuse from strangers every day—enough is enough.”

In another tweet, she added: “I’m here for my fans. I’m stronger than you think, but dealing with your ugliness every single day is too much. Kids, I get it now. You can stop. Whatever you’re mad about, I had my reasons. It’s been years. Just accept that you don’t understand my reality and let it go. And as for my mistakes, God has already dealt with me.”

Essentially, Keri stepped away from the public eye for almost a decade—all because of her fallout with Beyoncé.

During an emotional interview with psychic medium Reginald Lewis on Steve Harvey’s daytime show, Keri opened up about her hiatus. She admitted it had been incredibly difficult: “It’s kind of like a comeback, yeah. Because I hit rock bottom a few times.”

Steve Harvey responded, “Yeah, you had to.” Keri nodded, “Yeah, I had to. I’m crawling my way back to walking in my purpose.”

Steve added, “Exactly. Walking in your power.” Keri agreed, “My power, yeah. My power.”

She continued: “I think I had to step away from music for a while. I thought it would only be for a year, but it ended up being six.”

Then there’s Blu Cantrell, whose career also took a hit, allegedly because of a rumored feud with Beyoncé. Speculation started due to rumors that Jay-Z was interested in Blu, with some even suggesting they had an affair. Blu has repeatedly denied these claims. On The Wendy Williams Show, she admitted to having a crush on Jay-Z at the time: “Did she really have him locked down? I think so. I think they’re in love. Politics aside—no, I really do think they’re in love. I have a big crush on him, though.”

Wendy pressed her, asking, “Do you still have a crush?” Blu responded, “No—yes—no. I didn’t.”

Wendy jokingly added, “If he came in right now, and we were all not here…”

On top of that, Beyoncé has faced accusations of blackballing other artists. Some believe she played a part in the fall of Amarie’s career, allegedly taking her sound. The list of people supposedly blackballed by Beyoncé is long, and many suspect Keri may have been one of them after her public comments.

Keri has addressed the fallout in interviews, including on The Breakfast Club. She made it clear that she wasn’t hating on Beyoncé but acknowledged she was caught off guard by the tone of Beyoncé’s song. Keri said: “Beyoncé has always been a very sweet girl. To me, that just wasn’t her thing, but I don’t know.”

She also spoke about her comments on Michelle Williams, explaining that Michelle started the drama by tweeting about Keri’s use of autotune during the Soul Train Awards performance. Keri shared that Michelle later apologized, saying: “She started that, and it really hurt my feelings too because she’s a Christian, a church girl. But we talked on the phone, and she apologized for taking the tweet down.”

In another interview with Hollywood Unlocked, Keri admitted that Beyoncé had always inspired her. She confessed: “I really did come up on Beyoncé. I looked up to her for inspiration. That song and what I said just went too far because I do love her. I get chills when I see her perform. She’s an inspiration for all artists. I just felt like, damn, I missed out on the party.”

So, what do you think? Do you believe Keri’s comments about Beyoncé being an inspiration were her way of trying to repair things and get back in her good graces?

And do you think Keri’s career stagnated because of her beef with Beyoncé? Would she have been a bigger artist if she hadn’t gotten involved in the drama?

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