There’s at all times at the least one one that is aware of each beat of the long-lasting choreography to Beyoncé’s hit “Single Women” prefer it’s their job, and on this case, it actually was—so you’ll be able to solely think about the frustration when Ashley Everett, veteran dancer and former dance captain for Beyoncé, was kicked off the stage on a Virgin Voyages cruise mid–hand flip.
On Tuesday, April 21, the 37-year-old skilled dancer revealed in a collection of posts on Threads that, whereas dancing on stage to “Single Women” on a Virgin Voyages ship, she was “kicked off” the stage.
“Virgin Voyages desires Black creators and all their sauce—however doesn’t acknowledge, spotlight, or truly know them,” the skilled dancer started in a submit.
“I used to be kicked off the @virginvoyages membership stage whereas dancing to the SINGLE LADIES track for the CONTENT CREATOR CRUISE I used to be INVITED ON—all as a result of somebody complained…” she continued in a follow-up submit. “They kicked me off. I left—instantly after they let all of the complaining white of us up on that very same stage.”
The dancer, who has appeared alongside Beyoncé in quite a few movies and through a number of of her largest excursions over 20 years, together with most just lately in 2024 when the R&B and pop icon carried out in Houston in the course of the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans’ Christmas Day sport, added, “FYI. I’m within the ‘Single Women’ music video, btw. I do know they’re not trigger it’s solely three of us lol.”
Neither Everett nor Virgin Voyages instantly responded to requests for remark.
Simply days earlier than Everett’s account surfaced on-line, the adult-only cruise line introduced it was partnering with TikTok to launch one among its largest creator activations but, setting sail for 3 nights from Miami to Bimini within the Bahamas with greater than 1,000 content material creators, together with Everett. The journey, which befell aboard the Scarlet Girl, was billed as a completely immersive, creator-led voyage and marked the most important activation within the firm’s historical past, considerably increasing the size of its earlier sailings.
Because the cruise set sail, loads of content material—from GRWMs for on-ship events to every day recaps, POVs, and room excursions—has flooded social platforms, showcasing the full of life festivities. Among the many creators onboard, a number of are Black, though one among Everett’s core complaints is that, primarily based on her expertise, the model doesn’t appear to actually “know” its viewers.
“Virgin—do higher. Know and LEARN your crowd,” she added.
For a lot of reacting on-line, Everett’s expertise echoes a sample of high-profile incidents involving Black vacationers, significantly Black girls, being scrutinized or eliminated whereas merely simply having fun with themselves in public. Earlier this 12 months, former Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson mentioned she gave up her first-class seat after dealing with microaggressions from each passengers and workers. In the meantime, final 12 months, Carnival Cruises sparked backlash after imposing new guidelines that many discovered to be anti-Black on the time. Serena Williams was denied entry to a restaurant in Paris in the course of the 2024 Paris Olympics. And few have forgotten how, in 2015, a gaggle of 11 Black girls have been faraway from the Napa Valley Wine Prepare in an incident that later sparked nationwide backlash and a settlement.
Conditions like these at all times are likely to resonate so strongly as a result of they mirror how Black girls’s presence—and pleasure—remains to be so typically policed in areas tied to leisure and luxurious. They at all times increase the query of whether or not Black individuals are protected and welcome to indulge within the expertise, bringing their entire selves, or if they need to take their patronage elsewhere.
In later posts, Everett urged the state of affairs could have additionally been influenced by respectability politics round hair, noting she was sporting cornrows on the time.
“I additionally like to change my hair kinds, particularly whereas touring to tropical locations—however sadly, I discover a drastic distinction in how I’m handled, primarily based on the kinds I select,” she wrote, alongside a photograph of her lengthy, thick cornrows paired with pink blossom earrings.
Since stepping again from her position as Beyoncé’s lead dancer, Everett has moved into entrepreneurship, content material creation, and different ventures—work that in the end introduced her on the journey. The timing couldn’t be worse, because the cruise coincided along with her birthday.
“Took an opportunity & rang my birthday in on a model journey who I’ve since realized doesn’t give a flying f*%# about me,” she wrote.
In one other submit, she added, “Alsooooo, @virginvoyages did NOTHIGN to attempt to make my birthday particular yesterday… thank god for my buddy @kimberlycherrell I’m sadly very disillusioned in them to this point and I nonetheless have two extra days to go smh. They higher not attempt to blacklist me both trigger that will be much more apparent they hate me.”
There was, nevertheless, at the least one member of the Virgin Voyages workforce who acknowledged Everett and appreciated the second. Everett reposted a Story submit from a dancer presently employed with the cruise line who shouted her out.
“I’m a really proud present captain,” Haylee Wyman wrote over a photograph of herself in her dressing room. “We carried out for Richard Branson and Ashley Everett all in the identical evening.”
“In the meantime… However @virginvoyages is those not getting it,” Everett added over the repost.
Replace — At 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, a consultant from Virgin Voyages’ PR workforce replied, offering additional context and clues as to how they’ve tried to resolve the state of affairs:
“Throughout a late-night set at The Manor, plenty of Sailors joined the stage, which isn’t one thing we usually permit. Because the group grew and moved into the DJ space, our Crew stepped in to deal with what had grow to be a security concern and requested everybody on stage to proceed the celebration from the dance ground. This was a safety-based choice made within the second, not directed at anyone particular person. Our workforce reached out to Ashley in the course of the voyage to pay attention and higher perceive her expertise, as a result of making a welcoming, inclusive surroundings is core to who we’re. This crusing was deliberately curated to deliver collectively a various group of creators throughout backgrounds and communities. We take any suggestion of discrimination critically, and we stay dedicated to creating certain each Sailor feels revered whereas protecting our areas protected for everybody on board.”
