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Beyoncé has racked up millions of fans around the globe over the course of her legendary music career, but it does not appear Atlanta Hawks forward AJ Griffin is one of them.
The singer kicked off her Renaissance World Tour in Stockholm back in May and spend around a month in Europe before kicking off the North American leg in July, and she’s currently making her way around the United States for a string of shows that will officially wrap up in October.
On Friday night, Beyoncé will welcome fans to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for the first of three concerts she’ll be performing for the hundreds of thousands of people who will be packing into the home of the Falcons before she departs for Tampa after wrapping things up on Sunday night.
On Friday morning, Griffin (who made his debut with the Hawks as a rookie last season after being selected with the 16th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft) made it clear he won’t be attending in a now-deleted tweet where he suggested others should think twice about going to her shows, saying:
“If you call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ, you shouldn’t be going to any Beyoncé concerts or any concerts that Promote Satan. (Ephesians 5:11 )”
If you’re curious, the Bible verse he cites reads “Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them,” and he would appear to be one of the people who buy into conspiracy theories that assert Beyoncé (as well as Jay-Z) have used their music and associated works to subliminally spread Satanic and occult imagery purportedly used to indoctrinate fans.
It’s honestly really not worth seriously addressing claims that don’t have any basis in reality, but plenty of people used Griffin’s tweet as an excuse to dunk on the 19-year-old NBA player.
AJ griffin jr was apart of a program called the “duke blue devils” and he talmbout beyoncé promoting satanism lol. you can’t make this stuff up man lmao
— SJ (@SJBasketball8) August 11, 2023
AJ Griffin came for Beyonce while only averaging 9ppg. I demand a suspension.
— They Got Me (@PaulTweetsRIP) August 11, 2023
This is what makes people not want to be Christian bc you’re being judgmental bro
— JMo (@DukeNation89) August 11, 2023
He may have taken that tweet down, but if you want to get Griffin’s thoughts on Sound of Freedom, you should still be able to take a look.