After Dionne Warwick, 78, chimed in with her thoughts on Beyonce, 37, during her recent Essence interview, the Beyhive is NOT happy with her words. The most dedicated fanbase in the globe took to Twitter with their thoughts on Dionne’s incredibly honest Q&A. “Dionne Warwick is completely wrong about Beyoncé and need to stop hating lol,” one person wrote after seeing her interview. “Beyoncé is definitely an icon. Lmao I hope Auntie Dionne is crafting her iPhone Note apology right now,” another tweeted. Ouch.
What exactly did Dionne say that has fans so fired up? While Dionne admitted that “it’s wonderful to see how she’s been able to create what and who she wanted to be and who she is,” she wasn’t so sure about her status as an “icon.” She continued, “now, sustaining and becoming a big icon that Gladys Knight, or Patti LaBelle, or Johnny Mathis, or Frank Sinatra, or Sammy Davis Jr. is? I doubt that, I really do,” she said. “I love her to death and can appreciate her talent. But that iconic status that I just mentioned, those four names? [She has] a long road [ahead].” Of course, for the Beyhive, those were fighting words.
However, Dionne is now insisting her words about the songstress were misunderstood. “What I said is in quotes. What @Essence said is not. It takes a long time to reach and achieve iconic status. That’s not to say that Beyoncé isn’t well on her way. She is a gifted performer. That was a reach from Essence,” she wrote in a now deleted tweet, according to Bossip.
https://twitter.com/theysheher/status/1131937971484200960
https://twitter.com/problacktiv/status/1131944263758098434
Dionne, a living breathing icon herself, was sure to make it clear that at the end of the day, she’s a fan of Bey. “I have an admiration for Beyoncé Knowles, Carter now. Watching her growth has been quite refreshing. It’s wonderful to see how she’s been able to create what and who she wanted to be and who she is… very proud of that, I really am,” the 78-year-old performer said.