Thank you, Beyoncé': The sinister meme taking over the internet

It seems that thanking Beyoncé has now evolved into a full-blown meme, and it's baffling for anyone not entirely plugged into this surreal social media culture. Beyoncé already gets thanked in almost every award speech and is hailed as a near-divine force in pop culture, so why not start thanking her for everything?

I was blissfully ignoring this wave of Beyoncé gratitude until Ryan Air's Instagram decided to jump into the fray. One of their passengers thanked Beyoncé after receiving not one, but two windows on their flight - a luxury, no doubt, for a company that makes you feel like seatbelts might soon be an upgrade package. The absurdity of the caption caught my eye: "We want to thank Beyoncé", but the comments were what really sent me spiralling down this rabbit hole: "The person running this Twitter account deserves a raise," and "I laughed at this meme and for that I thank Beyoncé." And thus, my investigation began.

A two-pronged theory

It turns out that the "Thank you, Beyoncé" trend has two major threads. The first is a darker origin linked to conspiracy theories about her and Jay-Z's involvement with Sean "Diddy" Combs, who's facing an avalanche of sexual assault allegations. Allegations that range from assault to sex trafficking have put Combs in serious legal trouble. The case exploded when Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit against him, alleging horrific abuse, and it has only escalated since. While there's no evidence linking Beyoncé and Jay-Z to these claims, the conspiracy-loving corners of the internet have nonetheless created connections, fuelling this odd meme.

But the other side of the "Thank you, Beyoncé" movement is far more lighthearted. It's based on the almost religious reverence that Beyoncé's fans have for her - reverence that has been the subject of jokes for years. Remember that famous Saturday Night Live sketch that warned of the consequences of not liking Beyoncé? It seems like we're living out that skit now, except instead of being dragged for not loving her music, we're required to thank her for any small wins in life.

Music industry meme

In fact, thanking Beyoncé has become a thing in the music industry, with artists practically apologising when they beat her at awards shows. Take Adele, for instance, who almost seemed to beg forgiveness for winning Album of the Year over Beyoncé. Or who could forget when Kanye West famously hijacked Taylor Swift's VMAs speech to declare that Beyoncé should have won? It feels like there's been an unspoken rule for over a decade: If you're in music, you'd better be thanking Beyoncé.

This recent meme is just an evolution of that idea. Now, everyday people are getting in on the joke. TikTok has been flooded with "Thank you, Beyoncé" posts. At first, these were lighthearted, with people thanking her for random daily occurrences - like a successful email or an easy commute. But as memes often do, things have escalated. Now there's a superstitious twist to it. Forgetting to thank Beyoncé could supposedly curse you. One viral TikTok shows a user captioning, "When I fall asleep without thanking Beyoncé for my day," followed by a clip of Beyoncé haunting them. Another clip shows someone typing an email, realising in horror they've nearly sent it without thanking her, and quickly adding a closing line, "I'd like to thank Beyoncé." So, if you're ever feeling grateful, remember to thank Beyoncé - just in case.