Beyoncé’s mom Tina Knowles shared that she and her superstar family watched a video by a trans social media star for a moment of levity before her breast cancer surgery.
Tina, 71, revealed her secret breast cancer battle during an interview with CBS Mornings’ Gayle King on Monday and explained how her family supported her throughout the terrifying ordeal.
‘I was nervous and so they started just joking with me… Solange pulls out this video of a trans woman and she’s saying, “I’m very demure,” and we’re just laughing at it…,’ Knowles said, referring to trans social media sensation Jools Lebron, who is known for the viral phrase ‘very mindful, very demure.’
Tina continued: ‘And so Solange is showing me this and we just look at it right before the surgery so I start laughing and get out of my head.’
The famous mom added that Beyoncé and her younger sister Solange then sang a Destiny’s Child song called Walk with Me.
‘It’s about God walking with you into something and protecting you,’ Tina said through tears. ‘And I went in there feeling just like God has got me.’
Tina said she was recently diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer after doctors discovered two tumors during a mammogram appointment.
Beyoncé’s mom Tina Knowles shared that she and her family watched the viral ‘Very Demure, Very Mindful’ video by trans social media sensation Jools Lebron before her cancer surgery
The Chicago-based content creator became a sensation overnight in early August when she posted a video of herself while showing her followers how they should present themselves in an office setting
Knowles said her family have been a huge support through her breast cancer battle. She is seen with Beyoncé and her younger sister Solange
The fashion designer added that although she’s recovered from the cancer, she suffered significant hurdles along the way.
She told CBS Mornings she contracted a post-surgical infection so bad that she almost bailed on Glamour’s 2024 Women of the Year event in October.
Tina said Beyoncé in particular urged her to rest rather than attend the event – but she pushed through because it was important to her.
‘A lot of my life, I just refused to be recognized. I would never take an award. I would never want the attention to me … and this was my saying, “I deserve this,”‘ she said.
Tina also revealed that her cancer might have been caught sooner if she hadn’t delayed her mammogram appointment.
Doctors told her that if she maintained regular screenings, which are scheduled every one to two years for women over the age of 55, the cancer may have been caught at Stage 0 instead of Stage 1.
Stage 0 is when the cancer has not spread beyond the breast tissue, per the American Cancer Society.
Tina was seen with Beyoncé, her husband Jay-Z and their daughter Blue Ivy at Mufasa: The Lion King premiere in Los Angeles last December.
Tina told CBS Mornings she was recently diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer
Tina said Beyoncé, Solange, and several friends supported her through the horrific time by lifting her spirits at hospital appointments ahead of scheduled surgery
The family appeared to be in the holiday spirit at the glitzy event after Jay-Z had just hit back against claims he gang-raped a 13-year-old girl with Diddy.
Tina also became embroiled in the controversy after she appeared to like an Instagram post reporting the accusations against her son-in-law.
She told fans she was ‘hacked’ and did not like the post of her own accord.
‘I was Hacked! As you all know I do not play about my family. So if you see something uncharacteristic of me just know it is not me’ she wrote on her own Instagram.
Jay-Z angrily denied the attack took place and the lawsuit against him was dismissed in February 2025.
He is now suing the woman who made the allegations about him for defamation.