Despite the rumors, there was not a special appearance from Mrs. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter on Thursday, the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention.

Dozens of attendees who wore “Cowboy Kamala” fits tonight for nothing are likely devastated at the lack of a performance from the superstar. This despite TMZ promising us that she would be performing, as did several dozen random people on social media who insisted that she was there in Chicago.

“Beyoncé was never scheduled to be there,” a representative for Beyoncé told NBC News on Thursday as the DNC headed into final hours. “The report of a performance is untrue.”

Look, I don’t know who started this rumor. Maybe it was a bored convention staffer whose deadpan is a little too dry to have their sarcasm register. Maybe it was James Taylor in revenge for having his number cut on Night 1 of the DNC. Maybe it was some evil genius on the Harris team who figured out a way to get people to tune in who might not otherwise watch and stay until the balloons have dropped. 

In the end, we are all the more deceived for Thursday’s ruse. But, if you really think about it, what is a recording of Beyonce’s “Freedom,” the campaign’s anthem that played at the close of Harris’ speech, if not a “performance?”