Beyoncé‘s rise to superstardom is no accident; it’s deeply intertwined with the unwavering support of her parents. Her dreams were always a priority in her upbringing, thanks to her mother, Tina Knowles, and her father and former manager Mathew Knowles.
This point is punctuated in a resurfaced clip from a 2023 episode of “The Mindvalley Show with Vishen Lakhiani,” where Mathew recounted how he came to his daughter’s defense and shut down one of her elementary school teachers who believed Beyoncé dedicated more time to music at the expense of core subjects like math.
Lakhiani asked the founder of Music World Entertainment to share the story on the show, and the celebrity dad shared the story with his 198,000 subscribers.
“This was a Montessori school, and I was on the board there,” the Houston native explained about St. Mary’s in the Third Ward neighborhood. “And this teacher walks up to me and says, ‘Well, you know Beyoncé made a C+ in math, and she could do better, and she’s spending too much time with music.”
The teacher, according to Mathew, continued, “She’s always talking about music and singing. She’s not gonna do anything with that.”
It seems that Mathew at first tried to be diplomatic with the educator, saying, “You know, I just want my kids to do the very best that they can. I can tell you, because I work with her, she’s doing the very best she can in math. So, I’m happy with that as a father.”
The learning lesson the “Renaissance” singer’s dad shared with the host was that no one is an expert at everything, not to mention that children need parents to give them grace in areas that they are not strong in.
“I realize every area we’re not experts in, and I think as parents sometimes we forget that that ourselves. We’re not experts in every area. There’ll be some areas our kids will struggle,” Mathew explained.
The host then offered, “We demand our kids get A’s in every subject.”
Immediately, the father of two shut down that claim, saying, “I don’t believe in that. I believe that they do their best in every subject.”
A clip of the interview was recently posted on the X platform, and many in the Beyhive weighed in.
“Now this is a Daddy Lesson I can fully subscribe to,” one person tweeted. “Parents be expecting honor roll knowing they barely passed most of their classes smh.”
“WHOS THE TEACHER???” one fan angrily asked.
WHOS THE TEACHER??? pic.twitter.com/VZNAekArac
— ¡marii! (@Mari1k18) July 16, 2024
Some people suggested the video should come down because it exposed a young Beyoncé for struggling with math.
Critics disagreed, including one that said, “There is nothing wrong with the video. She was more passionate about music and singing. She knew what she wanted to be from an early age. Patents shouldn’t force kids to get As in everything. Some kids you can tell what their passion is right away…nurture it.”
Others fast-forwarded to Bey’s iconic career now and wondered if the C+ really mattered.
“’Who needs a degree when you’re schooling LIIFEEEE’ she saw the vision at an early age,” one X user wrote, quoting lyrics from her 2011 single “Schoolin’ Life.”
Even when Mathew sat and talked to his daughter about her math grade, he reassured her that he knew she had done her best in the subject. He also acknowledged that this was one area that the Texas girl, who would grow up and broke all sorts of records as an artist, struggled in.
Lakhiani asked Mathew how knew that this would not make Beyoncé lazy in school or complacent with earning a passing grade.
“I knew because I worked with Beyoncé with her homework,” the dad said. “I knew that was a challenging area for her, math, and she was doing her very best at that and there was other areas that she was doing exceptional because she had to skill set and also the love of those areas.”
Beyoncé at Houston School for the Performing and Visual Arts (1996)
— AfterSchool (@AfterSchool90) February 2, 2022
At this time Beyoncé is 15 and signed to a record label. pic.twitter.com/Y3Kf1MSasU
Finally, Lakhiani seemed to understand his parenting, saying, “And you accepted the fact that she couldn’t be great at everything. You really nurtured the areas that she was super passionate about.”
Over the years, the world has watched Beyoncé grow up before its eyes and has had a front-row seat to her relationship with her father, the architect who guided Bey from the early days of Girls Tyme on through the success of Destiny’s Child. He also was present in the beginning of her explosive solo career.
However, their professional relationship hit a rough patch in 2011 when the 32-time Grammy winner decided to part ways with her father as her manager. This move followed allegations of financial mismanagement, which Mathew has consistently denied.
Both parties publicly stated that the split was mutual and driven by business considerations rather than personal grievances.
“To my father, my O.G., my first teacher: You inspire me in every move that I make. I love you.”
— DONTEO 𐚁 (@MrSir_Carter) January 9, 2024
– Beyoncé
Happy birthday @MathewKnowles! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/S5BCwNWslM
The timing of this professional split coincided with significant personal challenges for the Knowles family. Bey’s parents finalized their divorce the same year, a separation exacerbated by Mathew’s extramarital affairs that resulted in two additional children.
Despite these hurdles, the bond between Beyoncé and her father remains intact. She honored him in her 2016 song “Daddy Lessons,” reflecting on the strength and values he instilled in her.
There is no love lost with pops either. Mathew always talks about how proud he is of his oldest daughter and is glad that he stood up to the teacher who could not see that child’s destiny.
