Tina Knowles had an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction at an event for her new book Matriarch: A Memoir before Keke Palmer came to her rescue.
Palmer, 31, was the guest moderator at a discussion with Knowles, 71, about her memoir in Los Angeles on Friday, May 2, when the snafu occurred. TikTok footage shows Palmer assisting Knowles on stage as the author tries to hold up her strapless gown.
In the footage, an attendant rushes on stage to lend a hand too, with Knowles eventually being able to adjust her outfit. All throughout the awkward ordeal, Palmer kept fans laughing with a series of one-liners.
As she mimicked some of the shocked faces of audience members, Palmer quipped, “They was acting like it was a whole murder show.”
“I thought it was serious,” she teased. “I saw the teleprompter [start] typing, ‘We need something.’ What the hell do you mean? They went in for no reason.”
As she pivoted back to the book discussion, Palmer got in one final joke, “They was gonna give me a heart attack! Whew! So back to the book.”
Tina is in Los Angeles to promote her memoir on the same weekend as her daughter, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, headlines a five-night stint at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California to open her Cowboy Carter Tour. The stars were out for the Cowboy Carter Tour on Thursday, May 1, including Mindy Kaling, Ariana Madix, Chrishell Stause and Emma Hernan.
Released on April 22, Matriarch offers an intimate look at how Tina and ex-husband Mathew Knowles navigated the careers of their daughters, Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. (Tina and Mathew divorced in 2011. She was later married to actor Richard Lawson from 2015 to 2024.)
One of the biggest revelations in Matriarch was Tina disclosing a private battle with breast cancer in 2024.
“My doctor told me I had breast cancer. A small tumor in my left breast that was cancerous; the larger tumor in my right breast was benign, but it would also have to go,” Knowles wrote. “She said I was Stage 1A, assuring me my prognosis was good. The next step was to talk to an oncologist and a breast surgeon.”
She went on, “I sat there in a daze, rubbing my neck. I immediately thought of my father, all those times taking him to chemo and how much cancer took from him. I had been through all of this stuff in life getting to be 70 years old, and now I’m gonna get cancer?”
Tina wrote that she soon decided to tackle her diagnosis with “precision” by consulting with Beyoncé and Solange to find a cancer specialist before undergoing surgery.
“My girls became my team,” she recalled.
Although she was eventually declared “cancer-free” following treatment, Tina confirmed that she dealt with multiple complications, including developing a hematoma and a lingering infection.
Speaking exclusively to Us Weekly about Matriarch’s release in March, Tina acknowledged that she was “still crying” about reflecting on her past for the book.
“A big, big, big hope is that people will understand how important it is to look into your past, learn about your ancestors, and pass that history on to your children and your grandchildren,” she told Us. “That’s what I’m hoping that will happen from this book.”
Matriarch is out now.
