At the beginning of each episode on the new Amazon Prime series “Swarm,” there is a disclaimer that informs viewers the show is based on true events. The series is based on the life of an obsessed fan of Ni’Jah, a pop megastar from Houston — a similar background to Beyoncé, whose fan base is called the Beyhive.
To avoid spoilers of specifics, the first episode showed that one of the Beyoncé’s super fans committed suicide.
In 2014, 23-year-old Taniya Hattersfield was a new member of the National Church of Bey. The new religion was called Beyism. The members of the church call themselves Divine Divas and consider Beyoncé’s music sacred, as Legit in Nigeria reported. Hattersfield killed herself, and her body was found in the basement of her family home in College Park, Georgia. Surrounding Hattersfield’s body was a shrine dedicated to Beyoncé.
Her suicide note read she made herself a sacrifice to Beyoncé, her “Lord and savior.”
There have also been other churches dedicated to Black celebrities, like Yeezianity, a religion dedicated to worshiping “Yeezus” to the point where members of the church don’t even refer to the man as Kanye West or Ye, just Yeezus, BreatheCast reported in 2014.
If you or a loved one needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text 741-741.
