Mairi Cooley, daughter of Beyoncé‘s longtime stage manager Terry Cooley, says her dad was fired after 20+ years of service.
In an emotional TikTok video, Mairi said Terry was let go after slavishly working for Beyoncé as stage manager and production manager for over 20 years.
When COVID happened, there were no tours and Terry was paid sporadically. He had to drain his savings to pay the family’s bills. Terry sold the family home and moved his family in with his mother.
Mairi said her father worked 22-hour days while touring with Beyoncé.
Terry worked with Beyoncé since she was a member of Destiny’s Child. But she fired him after he collapsed and underwent surgery. “They decided that he couldn’t keep up,” Mairi said.
“Here we are in 2026, and my dad has been out of work for a few years,” Mairi said while fighting back tears. “I worry about my dad because he put his heart and his soul into Beyoncé’s career,” she continued.
“They cut him loose and fired him after 20-something years of service. After he gave his health and his body to helping her succeed.”
Mairi said her father didn’t receive a severance or even a get-well card from the pop singer.
“Where we’re at now is my dad is suffering financially and he’s suffering emotionally,” she explained, adding that he’s in “a terrible place.”
She urged her followers to “tag Beyoncé and ask her to make things right” and “maybe apologize for disregarding the career that they had.”
@mairicool Ms.Carter Show Go For Terry https://youtu.be/_YU58kzcmlo?si=aHwZlEdT2QSMDXew #storytime #beyonce #fyp #truestory @Beyoncé ? original sound – Mairi
Mairi’s followers were empathetic. One TikTok user wrote: “Tell him to write a book called behind the stage or something like that.”
Another TikTok user wrote: “Beyoncé is a business. They should have retirement packages for employees like him.”
A third person commented: “She might not be at fault for his injury but after 20+ years of working together, can she not support someone in a tough spot out of loyalty? like a billionaire, hello?”
But others said Beyoncé doesn’t owe Terry anything.
One person wrote: “you walk away with what you earn. That’s the downside of passion, and unfortunately it’s the risk you take when you work outside of the traditional business structure.”
