Many fans were shocked to see photos of Beyonce's father and former manager, Mathew Knowles, embracing her and her mother, his ex-wife, Tina Knowles Lawson, at Bey and husband JAY-Z's final "On the Run II" tour concert in Seattle on Oct. 4.
Now Mathew is explaining how the surprise reunion — and those stunning black-and-white photos — came to be.
"It was a warm and enduring positive moment," Mathew told TMZ. "I went up to Seattle — it was the last show of the tour. And I wanted to surprise her by bringing her a dozen lovely red roses. And so I sat in the dressing room area — she didn't know I was out there. And Tina was out there and some other folks were out there. And Beyonce came out and there I was. And she gave me this huge, huge hug that only daughters can give to their dads."
Tina captioned an Instagram photo of Bey and Mathew, "Love seeing this in Seattle! Daddy and daughter❤️." Beyonce captioned a slideshow that kicked off with the same image, "Thank you to all of our loved ones who came out to support OTR2. And a huge thank you to the hardest working crew in show business. We couldn't have done this without each of you beautiful human beings."
Beyonce famously fired her father as her manager in 2011 amid allegations that he'd been stealing money from her. It was the same year that Tina and Mathew's divorce was finalized in the wake of his infidelity (he fathered a child, son Nixon — who's now nearly 8 — with another woman, and also reportedly fathered a daughter, Koi, with a former lingerie model in 2010).
Mathew said his daughter was thrilled to see and talk to him in Seattle. "The conversation was more of her being surprised that I was there and then Beyonce wanted to take a photo of the three of us. That was important to her and important to all of us," he explained to TMZ.
Despite his complicated history with Bey and the circumstances that led to his divorce from Tina, Mathew insisted that all is well. "We see each other, we talk to each other many, many, many days, and that's all that matters to us," he said after claiming, "We've never been enemies. I've always had nothing, nothing but positive words for Tina."
Mathew even admitted that old habits die hard and that he sometimes calls second wife Gena Charmaine Avery, a former model he married in Houston in 2013, by his first wife's name! "I have to pause because my wife is named Gena so I sometimes get the Tina and the Gena confused!" he told TMZ. (Though Beyonce and sister Solange skipped Mathew's nuptials, they did attend Tina's 2015 wedding to actor Richard Lawson.)
Mathew, who also shared some of the same backstage photos that Bey and Tina posted, praised his eldest child's show. He captioned a photo of himself and Tina kissing Bey, "This past weekend I was able to spend time with family and witness one of THE greatest shows of all time. I was overjoyed to be apart of the experience…"
He told TMZ that Beyonce had mixed feelings about ending her tour with her husband. "Beyonce did say that she was happy and sad," Mathew said. "She was happy that the tour was over and she was sad that the tour was over because she will miss so many of her fans."