Editor’s Note: Veronica Wernicke is a freshman at UNCW majoring in Communication Studies and is the Assistant Opinion Editor for The Seahawk. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Veronica Wernicke may be found on Twitter @itsveronica98. All suggestions and inquiries may be sent via email to [email protected].

Not only was Beyoncé the first black woman to headline Coachella or “Beychella” as her fans are calling it, but she is also a diva. I applaud this historic music moment, but not the diva part. I should also add that while I enjoy Beyoncé’s music I have never jumped on the obsessive Queen B train.

Would you go as far as emailing media outlets asking them to not use unflattering pictures of you online? Diva much?

According to Page Six, Beyoncé’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, sent an email to media outlets requesting that they only use pre-approved photos from her Coachella performance. This request was made in efforts to apparently avoid unflattering fan photos of Beyoncé from surfacing on the internet.

This is also not the first time Beyoncé and her team have made this request. According to the Metro similar request were made but specifically at Buzzfeed following Beyoncé’s 2013 Super Bowl halftime show. Again, because the pictures were “unflattering.” Keep in mind this request was made after Buzzfeed had already made the post. Insert heavy eye roll.

As someone who obviously writes for a media outlet I believe we are all smart enough to know which photos to use in our posts. I think we also know better than to use an unflattering picture when there are plenty of flattering ones available. It just comes with our common courtesies.

If media outlets do happen to choose “unflattering” pictures, then it probably serves a purpose. If not, then they do not share the same integrity as me. Although when someone tells you not to use them how can you not “accidentally” slip one in?

So far neither Beyoncé or her publicist have appeared to make comments or gotten back to Page Six regarding these requests. This begs the question of who is actually the diva and who cares more about this, Beyoncé or her publicist?

I mean no one really wants unflattering pictures of themselves all over the internet, but it is kind of hard to stop fans from posting pictures of a huge event such as “Beychella.” In addition, you cannot really stop media outlets from then publishing those said images.

If these requests are true then this whole thing is utterly ridiculous, but I can also see things from Beyoncé’s point of view. Like I mentioned earlier no one ever wants unflattering pictures of themselves on the internet, but as a celebrity, things get a little tricker.

Celebrities lives are on display for the world 24/7 and pictures are popping up left and right. You should know what you are getting into. Although it still does not make it 100% right. I can see the invasion of privacy argument, but in the case of Coachella, it is a huge public event.

This request only makes Beyoncé and her team sound like a bunch of diva’s which to some — including myself — is annoying.

As ridiculous as this whole situation is, it could have been handled a little better. It would have come off as less diva-ish if Beyoncé’s publicist had instead phrased the request differently. She could have asked those media outlets to try and use less unflattering fan taken photos out of respect for Beyoncé. She could have also used the easy example of if the tables were turned would they really want unflattering pictures of them on the internet?

This whole situation makes me laugh, but it is a more fun and lighthearted story than we see flooding our feeds 24/7. Now it would only be fair and entertaining to see Beyoncé or her publicist make a comment and give an explanation since we are making a deal out of all of this.