Oklahoma radio station refuses to play Beyonce’s new song

The country-music station was accused of racism after it banned Beyonce.

KYKC, which delivers exclusively country music, found itself under fire after a representative of the broadcaster responded to a fan enquiry about whether they would air Beyonce’s new country song, Texas Hold ‘Em.

“We do not play Beyonce on KYKC,” the rep wrote, “as we are a country music station.”

The statement led to accusations of racism and discrimination from Beyonce’s fans, who argued that the failure to recognise Beyonce’s new music as ‘country’ was tantamount to racial exclusion.

“The refusal to play these songs raises concerns about the station’s stance on artists of color,” one fan wrote on X/Twitter.

“Whether intentional or not, such action contributes to the narrative of racial bias within the country community.”

And it seems those fans’ arguments may have held sway with execs at the network, who later clarified their position.

“We love Beyonce here,” the station’s general manager Roger Harris said.

“We play her on our (other top 40 and adult hits stations) but we’re not playing her on our country station yet because it just came out.”

Roger went on to explain that the original email was a “standard response” to requests for non-country artists.

“If somebody calls and requests the Rolling Stones on that station, we’re going to say the same thing,” he said.