Beyoncé Was Not Authorized To Display Her 'Cowboy Carter' Promo, Guggenheim Museum Says

Grammy-winning singer Beyoncé took over New York City with advertisements for her highly anticipated new album, Cowboy Carter, projected onto museums like the Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum, New Museum, and the Museum of Art and Design.

However, the surprise marketing move seemed to have caught some off guard, including the Guggenheim Museum, which said in a statement that it was neither informed nor had it authorized the projection onto their museum building.

Beyoncé’s promotion came just days before the Cowboy Carter album is expected to drop on March 29.

"This ain't a country album. This is a 'Beyoncé' album," read the words projected onto the museums in New York City as part of the promotion.

Fans took to social media to share photos of the songstress’ advertisement.

The Guggenheim Museum also shared a story of a picture, initially posted by Dr. Ashley James, which captured the advertisement projected on the side of the famous museum.

“Hey @beyonce! [bee emoji],” the museum wrote in its story.

Although the institution positively acknowledged the advertisement on social media, it said in a statement that it had not provided authorization to the singer to project the advertisement onto their building.

The museum “was not informed about and did not authorize this activation. However, we invite the public—including Beyoncé and her devoted fans—to visit the museum May 16–20 when we present projections by artist Jenny Holzer on the facade of our iconic building to celebrate the opening of her major exhibition,” Guggenheim Museum said in a statement provided to ARTnews.

It is unclear whether the other museums were aware of the advertisements prior to their appearance on the buildings.

The advertisement’s words, “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” was a quote from the singer’s recent post shared on Instagram on March 19.

Beyoncé opened up in the post about how she didn’t feel welcomed in the country music scene in the past but that this experience only pushed her further to release Cowboy Carter, which “has been over five years in the making,” she said.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of the supporters of TEXAS HOLD ‘EM and 16 CARRIAGES. I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant,” the Cuff It singer wrote.

“This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive,” she continued. “ … The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”

“This ain’t a Country album. This is a 'Beyoncé' album. This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!” the singer concluded.

Fans were ecstatic and declared, “The Queen is back!”

“You are a QUEEN in any genre and you deserve that number one,” one fan said, while another chimed in, “They didn’t give her a seat so she built her own table!!! Yall better hold on tight. The Queen a come truuuu.”

Naysayers also commented on her post, saying, “You're not country and we don't need you polluting country music with your music and lifestyle. We wish you the best where you are.”

“Stay away from our country music. we don't need Satan worshipers!!!” another wrote.