‘Swarm’ co-creator thinks Beyoncé has actually seen the show

“If it happens, you can write about it,” Nabers said. “Legally, we’re not lying.”

For anyone who’s seen Swarm, the first question that may have popped into your head was probably: How did this get past Beyoncé‘s legal team?

The show’s diva/icon/legend/the-moment-now-come-on is Ni’Jah, whose entire aesthetic and many major life and career achievements are lifted directly from the life of one Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter. And the show’s protagonist, Dre (the revelatory Dominique Fishback) kills in the name, and for the love, of this very similar, though fictional, person.

But as Janine Nabers, co-creator of the Prime Video series recently told Vulture‘s Sam Sanders, Mrs. Carter is definitely aware of the show and may have even seen it.

Nearly ever episode begins with the disclosure, “This is not a work of fiction,” and Nabers insists, with the backing of global overlords Amazon, that everything was “cleared legally” because it’s “not a work of fiction.”

“The legal stuff we did was very calculated, purposeful, and thoughtful,” Nabers said. “If it happens, you can write about it. When things happen out in the world and you’re a public person — legally, we’re not lying.”

Besides, the show’s other co-creator, Donald Glover, knows, has worked with, and has hung out with Beyoncé. And apparently almost everyone in the writers room, except Nabers, has met the Queen Bey.

But has Destiny’s most favored Child seen the show? According to Nabers, she thinks “she has, actually.”

“She knows about the show,” Nabers said, citing Glover’s friendship with Beyoncé. But let’s also not forget Chlöe Bailey — Bey’s protege and noted Parkwood artist — plays a significant role in the series as well. Still, a lot can be interpreted from Swarm and the internet’s gonna internet, but Nabers wanted to at least give a personal heads-up to the woman from whose life Swarm heavily borrowed.

“I wrote her a letter basically being like, ‘Yo, you’re great. I love you. This is a show that we’re working on. These are the people that are writing on it,'” Nabers recalled. “She’s worked with a lot of the people who have worked on our show. It’s a family.”

Nabers added, “This is not a crusade to tear down anyone’s reputation. I know it’s extreme, and I know that our character is doing a lot of crazy shit, but this is a love letter to Black women.”

Knowing how close to the vest Beyoncé likes to keep things — like, say, the visuals to Renaissance — we may never know how she feels about the show, or her own dizzying level of fame, for that matter.

But, hey, if Diana Ross didn’t sue over Deena Jones, Beyoncé will be fine with Ni’Jah.

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