Amy Schumer never intended her take on Beyonce’s Formation to be considered a parody.
The actress was joined by Goldie Hawn, Joan Cusack and Wanda Sykes for the video, which was posted on Tidal last week.
The clip showed the women looking shipwrecked and covered in dirt in a jungle while dancing along to the track. But critics were quick to slam Amy for being insensitive to the political messages in Beyonce’s original music video, where she is shown on top of a sinking police car in New Orleans.
However, in a lengthy essay for Medium, Amy explains she hadn’t wanted to mock Formation, but instead wanted to pay tribute to it in her own way.
“It was NEVER a parody. It was just us women celebrating each other,” she wrote. “The video Beyonce made was so moving and I wouldn’t ever make fun of that. There is absolutely no way to. I make fun of myself a few times in the video as I do in everything I am a part of.
“I did not mean to detract any of the meaning from the video. I am of course horrified and sickened by the events that are addressed throughout that video and didn’t see this as minimising that and still don’t. It was a way to celebrate bringing us all together. To fight for what we all want.”
Amy added that the video was only ever meant to empower women, and she also had approval from Beyonce before sharing it.
“If you watched it and it made you feel anything other than good, please know that was not my intention,” she continued. “The movie we made is fun and the women in it are strong and want to help each other. That’s what it was about for me. Of course, I had Beyonce and Jay Z’s approval. They released it on Tidal exclusively for the first 24 hours.”
The Trainwreck star continued to voice her love of Beyonce as she told fans: “Saying I love Beyonce’s album Lemonade is a huge understatement. I believe it is one of the greatest pieces of art of our time.”
