White House Removes Petition Against Beyonce from Website

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

It’s clearly going to Beyonce’s year, as it has been confirmed that the singer will be releasing her fifth studio album this year and headlining the Super Bowl half-time performance. In addition to the new album and Super Bowl appearance, Beyonce is set to drop a documentary on HBO this year and she just inked a $50 million deal with Pepsi. She’s also taking over the covers of some of today’s biggest magazines, not to mention she is still getting movie gigs. It is certainly her year, but for now, her upcoming album is getting most of her attention these days.

In addition to all of the aforementioned good news, Beyonce has also been invited to perform at the Inauguration again. After helping Obama raise $4 million for his 2012 campaign, the President has again sought out Beyonce to perform at the ceremony.

While Beyonce’s very large fan base is elated about the invitation, there are some people who are not at all thrilled that Beyonce is performing again.

So these unhappy people did what most people do today when they don’t like something…they started  a petition. The petition calls for the President to disinvite the singer from performing at the Inauguration. Apparently, the same folks who are angry about Beyonce signing a multimillion deal with Pepsi are the same people behind the petition which amassed over 100,000 signatures. The group feels it was irresponsible for Beyonce to back a soda company when child obesity is at an all time high.

The petition was uploaded to the White House’s We The People site, and it’s clear that Obama has no plans of backing down from inviting Beyonce, as it was confirmed by reports that the White House removed the petition from its We The People website.

The Washington Post reports:

A White House spokesperson told the Obama Foodarama blog that Beyonce’s performance at the inaugural is “not something the White House actually has jurisdiction over.”

Selecting performers is a function of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, not the White House.

We the People’s terms of participation state that users cannot post “petitions that do not address the current or potential actions or policies of the federal government.”