One of the most interesting stories by Lady Drama, formerly of Bossip.com, was the pending divorce of Mathew and Tina Knowles, parents of the great Beyoncé. On a side note, I was shocked when Beyoncé was not awarded the performer of the decade award by BET. She has clearly dominated her industry like no other: Tremendous success with virtually no significant or self-imposed drama, no seriously ignorant quotes, and no scandals of her own making. Her father prepared her quite well to deal with the pressure cooker of superstardom. I can't say the same thing for the equally great Alicia Keys, the artist who won.


At any rate, one small side-issue in the Knowles family (again, not due to Beyoncé's choices) is her father Mathew producing a love child with a woman 20 years younger than himself. Mathew is a major part of the reason that Beyoncé has been so poised and successful over the years, but apparently, his decision to give in to male temptation has led to the estrangement of his daughter, who is refusing to speak to him. Apparently, this whole baby thing started with a 38-year-old woman named Alexsandra Wright, with whom Mathew allegedly had an 18-month affair.

Executives at Columbia are apparently concerned that Beyoncé not speaking to her father could disrupt her ability to do what they need her to do best: make that cheddar. An insider to the music industry said, "Beyoncé was horrified to find out her dad cheated on her mom. She always looked up to him, and she is very close to her mom, so this has hit her really hard. She is refusing to speak to him, which is making things difficult where it comes to managing her career. Some people at Columbia now think it would be better to move him aside." In full alignment with custom, Wright took Mathew to court and requested child support. She now receives the healthy sum of $8,200 per month, which we all know is the absolute minimum necessary to raise a child these days. Beyoncé's parents are also getting a divorce. Here are some quick thoughts on this matter, which likely affects millions of families across America:

- It must not be forgotten that Mathew is a major reason for Beyoncé's success. In spite of his flaws, a split between Beyoncé and Mathew could be as bad as Tiger Woods losing his dad or when the Dallas Cowboys fired coach Jimmy Johnson. Sometimes, we think we don't need each other, when the truth is that we actually do. Beyoncé and her dad formed a highly successful partnership, and I truly believe that her success will decline if she parts ways with her father completely.

- Beyoncé should realize that her parents' relationship should not undermine her feelings toward her father. She doesn't know the status of their marriage, and if Mathew is not interested in remaining married, he should not be penalized for his personal decisions. What's saddest is that sometimes little girls have idealistic perceptions of their dads and don't want to believe that they can be tempted by other women. A man succumbing to this temptation should not supercede all he has done to be a good father. Mathew dedicated over 30 years of his life to the Knowles family and that doesn't change because he slept with someone else.

- I hope Beyoncé doesn't think men are completely evil and worthless if they cheat. She is married to a man (Jay-Z) who spent years rapping about how many women he's slept with. Sometimes there are things about other people we just don't want to know. I've personally never wanted to know everything about my significant other: I just want to be sure that she loves me and that she makes responsible decisions when I'm not around. While we certainly have the risk of venereal disease among us, the only way to completely avoid such risk is to remain celibate for life, which just isn't going to happen. Bottom line: When you mingle with other human beings, you are probably at risk in ways you can't even imagine.

Long story short, Beyoncé not speaking to her dad is going to change the dynamic of her career. Despite being caught doing wrong in his personal life, Mathew was one of the major engines that drove the Beyoncé ship, and he should remain a part of the team. It's not easy to build and maintain a brand that earns nearly $100 million dollars per year, and there are thousands of pretty young women seeking to take Beyoncé's place. She can't get caught slipping.

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Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book, "Black American Money." To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.