Husband filmed reading during Beyonce concert, Internet reacts
Beyonce performs during the Formation World Tour at Carter Finley Stadium on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C. Daniela Vesco/Invision for Parkwood Entertainment/AP Images
It would appear not everyone is a fan of her royal highness Queen Bey.
Twitter user Michelle Gardner shot this now viral video at a recent concert for Beyonce’s Formation World Tour in Faleigh, North Carolina.
The clip pans over a crowd of eager female fans watching Beyonce perform her hit song “Drunk in Love,” only to show an elderly gentleman sitting down and casually reading a book.
When your wife makes you go to a @Beyonce concert with her 😂😂😂 @FormationWT #raleigh pic.twitter.com/watALdPu4l
— Michelle Gardner (@hellomichelleg) May 4, 2016
The video became so popular it was featured as a Twitter moment, and reaction to the man’s closer attention to literature than Beyonce’s empowering black feminism pop music has been mixed.
Some applaud the gentleman for his willingness to attend a Beyonce concert with his wife, despite apparently not caring less about the subject matter.
He is MY hero!!! https://t.co/rlT145ohM9
— Harlem THOTtrotters (@GhettoBasquiat) May 5, 2016
A trooper and a keeper https://t.co/QzaWzWC2ST
— Chosen’s Stepmom (@prtygrlgonebad) May 5, 2016
When I grow up I want to be this guy https://t.co/O8TENZu0Im
— Daniel Ngugi (@Daniel_Ngugi) May 5, 2016
Others view the gentleman’s audacity to not offer his full attention to Beyonce as an absolute travesty.
Disrespectful 😒😂 I was there too & if I would’ve seen him I would’ve threw that book away & made him listen https://t.co/ZXbDa8lYRF
— Lil Janice (@ImaginePariss) May 5, 2016
I am personally offended by this because I would sell my soul for Beyonce tickets right now… https://t.co/qFEOKDMZGK
— Stone (@stonevancamp) May 5, 2016
As it turns out, the mysterious book reader was George Papageorgiou, who was working concessions at the venue with his wife for his church, reports ABC11. The couple had pulled up a chair to watch the show after ending their shift, but eventually Papageorgiou decided he would rather take the opportunity catch up on his reading.
“I find Beyonce a great show woman, very attractive. Her music? Eh, fine, but not my style,” he said.
Being a Greek native, he told ABC11 her prefers mostly Greek music, as well as various musical hits from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
For anyone curious about his taste in books, Papageorgiou was reading a Greek translated copy of Danube Pilot by Jules Verne.
The novel was given to him by his parents on a trip to Cairo 53 years ago, and he’s already read it about seven or eight times over the years.