Amy Schumer essay: ‘Formation’ video is a tribute to Beyoncé

In this Jan. 17, 2016 file photo, Amy Schumer arrives at the 21st annual Critics’ Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. Schumer says in an essay published Friday, Oct. 28, that her “Formation” video, which shows her singing and dancing to the Beyoncé song alongside Goldie Hawn, Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack, is not a parody, but a tribute approved by Beyoncé and Jay Z. AP

LOS ANGELES  — Amy Schumer has more to say about her “Formation” video that shows her singing and dancing to the Beyoncé song alongside Goldie Hawn, Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack.

Schumer says in an essay published late Thursday that the video it is not a parody but a tribute approved by Beyoncé and husband Jay Z.

“It was NEVER a parody,” Schumer writes. “It was just us women celebrating each other. The video Beyoncé made was so moving and I wouldn’t ever make fun of that.”

Beyoncé’s video for “Formation” shows the singer sitting atop a New Orleans police car sinking in floodwaters. It also includes images of a hooded black child facing police and graffiti scrawled on a wall that reads “Stop Shooting Us.”

Schumer initially brushed off criticism that her take on the clip was racially insensitive.

“I did not mean to detract any of the meaning from the video,” Schumer writes. “I am of course horrified and sickened by the events that are addressed throughout that video and didn’t see this as minimizing that and still don’t. It was a way to celebrate bringing us all together.”

The comedian said Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” album is “one of the greatest pieces of art of our time” and that her love for it inspired the cast and crew of her latest film to make their own “Formation” video. TVJ