Beyoncé and her bouncing bandolier of bullets stirred things up during the Super Bowl halftime show — with two dozen black beret- and Afro-topped backup dancers paying tribute to a different kind of Panther.
The 34-year-old megastar’s crew was dressed in homage to the Black Panther Party, at one point joining her in giving millions of viewers a black-power salute as she belted out her new politically charged power anthem, “Formation.”
“OK, ladies, let’s get in formation!” she sang, tweaking the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl with a nod to the 50th anniversary of the 1966 founding of the Black Panther Party.
One admirer, Twitter user @JasFly, tweeted, “Beyoncé, backed by 50 black women with afros dressed black panthers, is telling the world that #BlackLivesMatter.”
Much of the halftime show was about love and togetherness, with Beyoncé dancing side by side with Bruno Mars and, in a grand finalé, with Coldplay’s Chris Martin as the audience spelled out “Believe in Love” with rainbow-colored placards.
Still, the star herself seemed intent on bringing some amount of empowerment politics to her own performance. At one point, her dancers formed an X on the field, an apparent reference to Malcolm X.
In her black jacket with studs and gold accents, Beyoncé also paid homage to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
Reaction online was mixed, strong and immediate.
“Beyoncé just had beautiful black women dressed as black panthers performing halftime at the Super Bowl. Y’all don’t understand,” tweeted @cosmorgpolitan, another big Bey admirer.
DeRay Mckesson, a prominent leader in the Black Lives Matter movement, also appreciated the political display.
“The #Formation shout-outs to Malcolm X & MJ were excellent,” he tweeted.
Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin, however, saw it differently.
“Cuz nothing brings us all together better than angry @Beyonce shaking her ass & shouting ‘Negro’ repeatedly,” Malkin tweeted along with a screen grab of the panther dancers.
Twitter user @uwish1127 also saw racism in the performer’s halftime antics.
“Wow @NFL how do you let @Beyonce perform in what is a known racist uniform (black panthers). #awful #SuperBowl #sheruinedthehalftimeshow,” he wrote.
Twitter users churned out an average of 147,000 tweets per minute about Beyoncé, according to social-media-monitoring firm Spredfast.