The owner of the Sphere in Las Vegas has sent Beyoncé a cease-and-desist letter, because, according to reports from Billboard and New York Post, footage used during the Cowboy Carter tour shows her picking up a version of the iconic venue.
Reportedly addressed to Parkwood Entertainment, Beyoncé’s production company, on behalf of Sphere Entertainment Group (SEG), the letter asks that the singer stop using the interlude footage for the show.
“Beyoncé — many orders of magnitude larger than the Sphere venue — leans over, picks up the venue, and looms over it,” the letter reads, according to the Post, leading to “significant speculation that Beyoncé will end her tour with a Sphere residency.”
It’s reported that a source told Billboard that the visual upset James Dolan, CEO of Sphere Entertainment, who tried to negotiate for Beyoncé to perform at the Sphere in the past. Instead, she’ll perform at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on July 25 and 26.
“It has recently come to SEG’s attention that a Cowboy Carter tour interlude video contains the unauthorised use of SEG’s intellectual property,” the letter reads. “SEG is sure that multiple aspects of the interlude video, including other brands, clips and music, were duly cleared by the tour with rights permissions from the rights holders whose works were used in the video, as is common practice. SEG, however, was never asked, and the prominent appearance and manipulation of SEG’s Sphere venue in the video is unauthorised.”
The Cowboy Carter tour kicked off on Monday, April 28th, in Los Angeles. During a Thursday show at California’s SoFi Stadium, the artist added a medley of hits that included “Crazy in Love,” “Love on Top,” and “Single Ladies.”
There’s been no official announcement yet about the tour making its way to Australia. Beyoncé’s last visit Down Under was back in 2013, during her ‘Mrs. Carter Show World Tour’, which filled arenas across the country. With Cowboy Carter marking her dive into country music, and Australia being major player in the global rise of the genre, it’s no doubt a fitting time for Beyoncé to finally return – with or without the interlude footage in question.
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