- Do YOU have a story? Email tips@dailymail.com
Beyoncé has sparked controversy on social media for appearing to make a gun gesture during an NFL halftime show on Christmas Day.
The R&B superstar entertained fans at NRG Stadium in her home state of Texas, where local club Houston Texans played the Baltimore Ravens in a game that sparked outrage long before her live set.
The home team was completely outplayed by the visiting Ravens ahead of Beyoncé’s first appearance on a white horse – a reference to the horse theme featured on the cover of her last two albums, Renaissance and Cowboy Carter.
The 43-year-old singer then opened herself up to criticism by making the apparent two-finger pistol gesture while performing hit single Texas Hold’Em.
At the same time, a banner with the single word BANG was released behind Beyoncé as she stood on a specially erected scaffolding.
The controversial gesture is currently banned by the National Football League, with its use resulting in a 15-yard penalty for each offending player.
Beyoncé has sparked controversy on social media for appearing to make a gun gesture during an NFL halftime show on Christmas Day
The superstar entertained fans at NRG Stadium in her home state of Texas, where local team Houston Texans played the Baltimore Ravens in a match that sparked outrage long before her set.
When he went to
A second added: ‘I was thinking the same thing!! How many players have been fined for that?’
A third said: ‘Where is the flag on Beyonce for the finger guns?!?!’
While a fourth raged: ‘Still not sold on Beyoncé as a country artist. Still looks like a pop star who just put on a cowboy hat. It’s also hilarious that the league is fining players left and right for finger guns and throwing them around like it’s her job.”
Entering her halftime performance on a white horse, the 32-time Grammy winner wowed the crowd in her hometown of Houston on Wednesday with a nearly 13-minute performance.
She surprised fans by bringing out Shaboozey for a performance of Sweet Honey Buckiin, before Post Malone joined her for Levi’s Jeans.
Netflix agreed in May to a three-year contract to broadcast games on Christmas Day. The NFL is expected to give the streaming service one of its biggest days since the site launched in 1998.
Netflix’s 282.3 million subscribers in more than 190 countries were able to stream the games, marking the first time one outlet distributed an NFL game globally. Netflix had the games available in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German.
The singer then left herself open to criticism by making the apparent two-finger pistol gesture while performing hit single Texas Hold’Em
The 32-time Grammy winner wowed the crowd in her hometown of Houston on Wednesday with a nearly 13-minute performance
The NFL played its first games on Christmas Day in 1971 with a pair of divisional playoff games.
The league avoided playing on December 25 from 1972 to 1988, shifting its entire schedule to Saturdays if Christmas fell on a Sunday.
There have been thirty games at Christmas since 1989, never more than three on that day.
But the NFL went out of its way to schedule two games on Wednesday to accommodate its $150 million deal with Netflix.