The Hollywood profile has seen better days. Typically it's little more than a written commercial for an A-lister or rising star's personal brand. But sometimes, as with the new Beyoncé profile in GQ magazine, all pretense is dropped. The only way to get a global superstar like Bey now is through an opportunity to sell a new product to a specified target audience, in this case men between the ages of 30-45 who might be interested in her new whiskey brand.
While some might categorize this as "shameless" or even "unethical," the chance to nab a Beyoncé cover is too enticing for the current iteration of GQ to pass on, even if it means agreeing to conduct the interview not in person, or even on Zoom, but over email. To read this Q&A is to wonder who or what even constitutes the Beyoncé on the other side of the computer. Many of her responses could kindly be called wooden, or more accurately described as affectless, PR-officiated, post-human babble that at times feels indistinguishable from ChatGPT. For example, here are GQ's question in bold and then the answer from "Beyoncé":
This spring, you released a new album. And I have a lot of questions about that and how it connects to your past work. But first I want to start with the new, new thing. Whiskey. I guess I’m wondering…why liquor?
I’ll never forget the first day I had whiskey. It spoke to me nice. I remember thinking, Why have I never had this before? It was strong and warm, just the right amount of challenge. I loved the process, the ritual of it. Whiskey isn’t something you just shoot down. It’s a commitment. You gotta have patience. I like that. Then I got into vintage Japanese whiskey and started doing tastings. It opened up a whole new world. I love everything about whiskey. The color, the smell, the way it dances in the glass.… And I love the stories that come with it. Every bottle has a history. I also like introducing whiskey to people who don’t know they love it yet. I think a lot more women would love it if they tasted it, and if they were really spoken to by the whiskey world.
This is familiar stuff to anyone who's had to read a million press releases for celebrity-sponsored brand partnerships: lots of words linked in idea-shaped sentences which sometimes mean something, but often mean nothing. "I’ll never forget the first day I had whiskey. It spoke to me nice." I don't know what that means, but it sounds provocative. There's plenty of this kind of copywriterly ad-speak throughout:
What has your experience been like, as a Black woman, in business spaces that some might have assumed you wouldn’t thrive in?
There’s a huge contrast between the business journeys of men and women. Men often have the luxury of being perceived as the strategists, the brains behind their ventures. They’re given the space to focus on the product, the team, the business plan. Women, on the other hand, especially those in the limelight, are frequently pigeonholed into being the face of the brand or the marketing tool. It’s important to me to continue to take the same approach I have taken with my music and apply my learnings to my businesses.
I am here to change that old narrative. I’m here to focus on the quality. We took our time, and we did our research, and we have earned respect for our brand. I try to choose integrity over shortcuts. I’ve learned that true success isn’t about leaning on a name; it’s about crafting something genuine, something that can hold its own. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being revolutionary.
There's nothing in the answers that sound like a real person is responding to anything. It's carefully curated language to accentuate Beyoncé as superstar and corporation, every sentence heightened to better advertise the product. Even on questions that attempt to be more direct, "Beyoncé" dances around it to stay general and unspecific.
Cowboy Carter was the second album in a planned trilogy that you started two years ago with Renaissance. What sparked this grand idea to do a trilogy of records, each exploring different genres?
I started Cowboy Carter almost five years ago. Pay close attention to my age in the lyrics of “16 Carriages.”
From the start of my career and on every album, I have always mixed genres. Whether it is R&B, Dance, Country, Rap, Zydeco, Blues, Opera, Gospel, they have all influenced me in some way. I have favorite artists from every genre you could think about. I believe genres are traps that box us in and separate us. I’ve experienced this for 25 years in the music industry. Black artists, and other artists of color, have been creating and mastering multiple genres, since forever.
It's a testament to where we've gotten, both in celebrity and media, that the guaranteed success of Beyoncé on the cover of your magazine is more worthwhile than an in-depth and probing article. In an emailed format, each question more or less serves as a prompt for a semi-related essay. There's nothing any writer could ask Bey that would be new or intriguing, because she won't allow for that. But it's amusing that from GQ's perspective, a magazine cover—an honor that celebrities and their handlers used to fight for—can be dedicated to the shilling of a celebrity liquor business. Lest you think it's all robotic brand management, she did offer some "personal tastemaking":
What is currently inspiring you in music and film? What’s the best thing you’ve heard in 2024?
I love and respect all of the female singers-songwriters who are out right now.… Raye, Victoria Monét, Sasha Keable, Chloe x Halle, and Reneé Rapp. I love Doechii and GloRilla, and I just heard That Mexican OT, he’s from Houston…. He goes hard! I really like “Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter, and I think that Thee Sacred Souls and Chappell Roan are talented and interesting. I’m obsessed with my backseat baby.... I’m a Smiler.
But the truth is, I spend most of my time listening to the classics, like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and music from artists on the Stax label. I just watched that documentary. It’s so good! I highly recommend it. The best movie I’ve seen this year is Inside Out 2. I think it’s brilliant, and I’m currently watching House of the Dragon and The Chi.
This feels as genuine and specific as a Barack Obama summer reading list. Maybe next time, GQ will let us know 10 things David Zaslav can't live without. Whatever helps the bottom line.
