by Evette Brown

The former manager of Destiny’s Child is accused of stealing from his superstar daughter.

Once upon a time, Matthew Knowles was considered an executive genius in the entertainment business.  60 million album sales later, Mathew Knowles’ daughter, Beyoncé, is one of the largest entertainment acts in the world and her beloved father has been ousted as her manager.  He is now standing accused of stealing from the very daughter whose career he started.

In May, Beyoncé quietly released her father from his duties without much comment about the split.  Beyoncé immediately signed a joint management deal with Live Nation and her husband, Jay-Z’s management company, Roc Nation and has released the rather lackluster album, “4.”  On the other end of the musical spectrum, Mathew Knowles was terminated by the two other members of Destiny’s Child, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland, and has been relatively quiet about both his relationship with his daughter and his future in music. Until now.

According to a report from The Associated Press, Knowles has filed papers in a Texas court for defamation of character.  He is alleging that certain members of Beyoncé’s business camp, including Live Nation, Roc Nation, and Columbia Records made “negative comments” about him and are slandering his reputation in the music industry.  He has retaliated against the accusations that he was responsible for stealing money from his daughter and has vowed to expose the true motivations of both Live Nation and Roc Nation.  ”We absolutely have not taken any money from Beyonce, and all dollars will be accounted for,” he told The Associated Press in an interview. “In no way have we stole money. Again, this about the people who have made these claims — they have to come into the light.”

In his lawsuit against Live Nation, Knowles claims that the management company had the most to gain in having him ousted from Beyoncé’s career and is responsible for persuading her into hiring a law firm to conduct an audit of her finances.  That audit uncovered the alleged stolen money and resulted in Knowles being terminated as manager.  Knowles has denied any wrong-doing and is convinced that removing him was a blatant maneuver from Live Nation.  ”The team ironically appeared to be a cross-pollination of Beyonce’s team, Roc Nation’s team, and Live Nation’s team, who ironically have the most to gain,” he told the Associated Press.

Knowles is determined to have his character and reputation restored.  He has requested a judge allow him to take depositions from employees at Live Nation to figure out exactly how the stealing accusation was formulated.  The judge has yet to approve his request, but ultimately, Mathew Knowles’ primary interest is what is best for his superstar daughter.  ”The relationship with Beyonce is extremely amicable. I want to make that clear. Where there’s concern is the people that she’s doing business with,” he said to the Associated Press. “I’m challenging all of these folks on integrity, professional integrity.”