Beyoncé Gets Dragged Into Red Lobster Collapse

Beyoncé has been dragged into the conversation surrounding the collapse of Red Lobster, after more than 50 of the company's restaurants were abruptly closed to the public on Monday.

On Monday, restaurant liquidator TAGeX Brands wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that it was leading the closure of more than 50 Red Lobster locations throughout the U.S. and auctioning their kitchen equipment and furniture. On Tuesday, Restaurant Business Magazine reported that about 99 Red Lobster locations were closing—roughly 15 percent of the company's presence in the U.S.

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The closures followed years of Red Lobster struggling with declining sales and profits, significant debt, unfavorable lease terms and repeated turnover of executives who didn't solve the company's problems. Newsweek has contacted representatives of Red Lobster via email for comment.

As the sudden closure of the restaurants became a talking point on social media, Grammy-winning singer Beyoncé was dragged into the conversation due to a choice raunchy line in her 2016 hit single "Formation."

In the track, which was released without forewarning with an accompanying music video, the former Destiny's Child star sang: "When he f*** me good, I take him to Red Lobster."

Such was the impact of the line at the time that Red Lobster responded on X, sharing a post that suggested a rename of one of their most-popular dishes in her honor. "'Cheddar Bey Biscuits' has a nice ring to it, don't you think? #Formation @Beyonce," the post read.

Eight years later, fans of the star are urging Beyoncé to give the restaurant chain another musical shoutout to boost sales.

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"Beyoncé, [please] release another song about Red Lobster—they are in dire [straits] and need you, Goddess Divine, wrote X user in response to the news.

Tagging Beyoncé's X account, another urged her to "do something," because "we need the biscuits and endless shrimp back."

"Beyoncé, you need to save red lobster from bankruptcy," posted one X user, while another shifted the onus, commenting: "Men, the future of Red Lobster is in your hands. For the love of all you can eat shrimp, listen to Beyoncé & motivate your ladies to make those reservations."

Another asked their fellow X users if they were "not having sex or is it not good."

"You know it's bad when the Beyoncé effect can't save Red Lobster from closing their restaurants," read another post on the matter.

"Even Beyoncé couldn't save Red Lobster," wrote another. "Could this be Biden's economy???"

"If Beyoncé couldn't save Red Lobster, nobody can," posted another fan.

Back in 2019, as she and her husband Jay-Z accepted the Vanguard Award at the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles, the singer made reference to her famous lyric.

"To choose who you love is your human right," Beyoncé told the ceremony's attendees. "How you identify and see yourself is your human right. Who you make love to and take that a** to Red Lobster is your human right."

Beyoncé's comment sparked an eruption of cheers from the audience.

MacroEdge, a company focused on economic intelligence, said around 6,500 Red Lobster employees have been impacted by the store closures, though this figure has not been officially confirmed.

Before divesting from Red Lobster, Thai Union Group attributed the company's decision to make its "Ultimate Endless Shrimp" promotion a permanent offer as a "key factor" in its ongoing financial difficulties.

While the shrimp promotion increased traffic to the chain by 4 percent, as reported by Restaurant Business, it contributed to the $11 million in losses reported by the company in the third quarter of 2023.

According to Restaurant Business, Union Group's CFO Ludovic Regis Henri Garnier, said while speaking to investors in November 2023: "We knew the price was cheap, but the idea was to bring more traffic to the restaurants. So we wanted to boost our traffic, and it didn't work."