Mathew Knowles Breaks Silence on Beyoncé’s Stolen Music

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Mathew Knowles, former manager and father of Beyoncé, is speaking out about the July theft of his daughter’s unreleased music, which was reportedly stolen during an SUV break-in in Atlanta while she was in town for the Cowboy Carter Tour.

During an appearance on The Don Lemon Show on August 1, Knowles addressed the situation directly, and didn’t hold back. "I don’t know anything other than what I’ve heard in the news,” he told Lemon, “but I can tell you, Don, her choreographer had better be glad that I’m not still managing her because he would be in hot water.”

Knowles questioned why a choreographer had access to a hard drive containing unreleased Beyoncé tracks at all. “Why did he have a hard drive with all of her music? He’s a choreographer. And if he did have it, why didn’t he secure it?”

Though the identity of the thief remains unknown, the breach has raised questions about how unreleased material is being handled behind the scenes of one of the most tightly managed careers in music.

In the midst of the criticism, Knowles also hinted that Beyoncé has more music in the pipeline, and the theft may accelerate its release. “She was working on another project,” he said. “Now she might have to release it sooner than she anticipated.”

His comments have reignited speculation around Act III, the long-rumored final installment of the trilogy that began with Renaissance and continued with Cowboy Carter.