Beyoncé expressed her heartfelt tribute to O'Shae Sibley, who tragically lost his life in a stabbing incident over the weekend, with authorities in New York City investigating the possibility of a hate crime.
On her official website, Beyoncé, 41, wrote, "REST IN POWER O’SHAE SIBLEY," honoring the memory of the late 28-year-old.
The unfortunate incident took place at a gas station in Brooklyn on Saturday night while Sibley was spending time with his friends. During the outing, one of his friends, Otis Pena, captured the moments on a Facebook Live post.
O'Shae Sibley was a professional dancer and was voguing to one of Beyoncé's songs when he became the victim of a brutal attack. In the footage filmed by Pena, a group of men can be seen approaching them and directing homophobic slurs at the group, escalating the situation and ultimately leading to Sibley being stabbed.
The injured dancer was immediately taken to Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn with stab wounds to his torso, but, sadly, he was declared dead upon arrival.
Beyoncé has been a steadfast advocate for the LGBTQ community for a long time. She dedicated her album "Renaissance" to her late Uncle Jonny, affectionately referring to him as her "godmother and the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and culture that serve as inspiration for this album."
The album prominently featured collaborations with queer artists such as Ts Madison, Honey Dijon, Syd, Moi Renee, MikeQ, Kevin Aviance, and Big Freedia. In recognition of her and her husband JAY-Z's support, Beyoncé and JAY-Z were honored as LGBTQ Allies at the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in March 2019.
Sarah Kate Ellis, the President, and CEO of GLAAD, praised them as "global icons and passionate defenders of human rights and acceptance for all people" at that time.